The most useful phrases for IELTS Writing Task 1 table task introductions

Rephrasing the question/ A very brief description of the table

1. The table gives data/ information/ figures/ statistics on…
2. The data/ figures/ statistics give information on differences in… (related to …
categories of…)
3. The tables include statistics on changes in…
4. The two tables list the proportion of…
5. The tables on the right and on the left compare…
6. Both tables show percentages of…, but the one of the left presents… whereas
the righthand one includes…
(Optional) summary sentence/ description of what you notice straightaway
7. The columns are labelled with… and the rows (a variety of) different…
8. There are… columns representing… and… rows which show…
9. There is a wide variation in the data, ranging from… to…
10. The data ranges from (a low of)… to (a highpoint of)…
11. There is a mix of…/ The figures are a mix of…
12. For the most part…
13. Most of the figures are between… and…, but…
14. In general,…
15. The lefthand column represents… and the others…
16. The data between… and… is generally…, whereas…
17. There is a noticeable…
18. Among all the…, the thing that stands out is…
Sentence describing the structure of/ organisation of/ plan for (the body of) the
essay
19. I will describe the first… rows and then turn my attention to the …th to …th
ones.
20. I will look at the past data and then move on to the future.
21. I will explain the similarities between…, before turning to the differences.
22. I will examine some of the highest figures, then write about a few of the lower
ones.
23. I will summarise the data related to…, then focus on….
24. I will explain those two tables in that order/ in turn (in the paragraphs below).
The most useful phrases for the body of IELTS Writing Part One essays
Starting body paragraphs
Starting any body paragraph
25. According to the table at the top of the page,…
26. From the information given on the years between… and…, we can see that…
27. Looking at the three leftmost columns, it is obvious that…
28. If we look at the table giving data on…,…
Starting the second (or third) body paragraph
29. Turning (our attention) to the remaining figures,…
30. Moving on to the other four columns,…
31. In (complete) contrast to the four rows described above, in the rest…
32. Compared to the table/ column(s)/ row(s)/ topic(s)/ time period(s) described
above,…
33. In common with the table/ column(s)/ row(s)/ topic(s)/ time period(s) described
above,…
34. The other table/ two rows/ … columns/ time period(s)/ subject(s)…
35. The second table/ time period/ subject/ country…
36. The lower table/ half of the table…
37. The righthand table/ half of the table/ time period…
38. The line(s) representing… …
Describing positions
39. The first/ second/ third/ …th row from the top/ bottom…
40. The first/ second/ third/ …th column from the left/ right…
41. The top/ bottom row…
42. The rightmost/ leftmost/ righthand/ lefthand column…
43. In the column to the left/ right of that, we can see…
44. In the row above/ below that one, the data is…
45. (Around/ More or less in) the middle of the table,…
46. The table to the right of that one…
47. The table of figures below that one…
48. In the bottom right/ bottom left/ top left/ top right cell,…
49. Between those two rows/ columns/ cells, there is…
Describing times
50. At the beginning of the times shown in the table,…
51. At the end of the period given,…
52. Between… and… there is a change in…
53. In the following day/ week/ month/…,…
54. Over the next two/ three/ four/… days/ weeks/ months/…,…
55. In the next day/ month/ period given/…,…
56. (Just/ Slightly) after that
57. This lasts (on and off) for…
58. This continues (in a similar vein) until…
59. By the time we reach…, we can see…
60. Meanwhile, if we look at…, we can see a very different…
61. At the same time (in…),…
Giving vague data and times
62. about/ approximately/ around/ more or less/ roughly
63. (just) under/ (just) below/ nearly/ almost/ (slightly) lower than/ (a little) less than
64. above/ (just) over/ (slightly) more than
65. very nearly/ a tiny bit under/ virtually
Giving exact data and times
66. to be precise
67. (…)
The most useful phrases for comparing the figures/ columns/ rows/ tables
Useful phrases for explaining similarities between the figures/ columns/ rows/ tables
68. Like…,…
69. In common with…,…
70. Similarly,…
71. (more or less/ almost/ nearly/ virtually/ practically) identical/ the same
72. (extremely/ very/ fairly) similar
73. (exactly/ just/ almost/ nearly/ two thirds/ half/ a quarter) as… as…
74. … have (two/ several/ some) things in common, including…
Useful phrases for explaining differences between the figures/ columns/ rows/ tables
75. Unlike…,…
76. Compared to…,…
77. In (complete) contrast (to…),…
78. …, while/ whereas…
79. This contrasts with…
80. (far/ much/ a great deal/ substantially/ considerably/ quite a lot/ somewhat/
slightly/ a bit/ a little/ a tiny bit) higher/ bigger (than…)
81. (far/ much/ a great deal/ substantially/ considerably/ quite a lot/ somewhat/
slightly/ a bit/ a little/ a tiny bit) lower/ smaller (than…)
82. (more or less/ more than/ almost/ virtually) double/ triple/ four times/ …
times…
83. not (nearly/ quite) as high as…/ as much as…/ as great as…
84. (approximately) half/ a third/ a quarter/ a fifth/ a… of…
85. (around) two thirds/ three quarters/ … …s (the level) of…
86. one and half times/ twice/ three times/ …. times
87. The biggest/ main difference between… and… is…
88. A major difference…
89. The most obvious difference/ The clearest difference…
90. (slightly/ very/ almost completely/ totally) different
Useful trends language for describing tables
(Only very simple language is included here to avoid wasting time analysing the
data, but see the similar list on line graphs for more of this kind of language.)
91. (more or less/ more than) double/ triple/ quadruple
92. (approximately/ almost/ more than) halve
93. lose half/ a third/ a quarter/ a… (of…)
94. increase/ grow/ go up
95. decrease/ decline/ drop/ fall/ go down
96. There is a (roughly/ greater than/ over) fourfold/ fivefold/ …fold increase/
decrease in…
97. There is then a (very) large/ substantial/ slight increase/ decrease in…
98. remain (more or less) stable/ stay (approximately) the same/ not change much
99. change/ vary/ move
100. It reaches (a high of)…
The most useful phrases for IELTS Writing Task 1: Pie chart task introductions
Rephrasing the question/ A very brief description of the pie chart(s) given
1. The pie chart given shows the percentage of…
2. The chart gives data on the proportion of…
3. The pie chart on the left shows the ratio of…, whereas the righthand one gives
data on the share of…
4. The chart at the top of the page gives statistics on the fraction of… that…,
while that at the bottom illustrates figures related to how much three categories of…
…
5. The diagram given shows comparisons of statistics related to the numbers of
six kinds of…
6. The illustration given includes statistics on the amount of four different types
of…
Summarising the pie chart(s)/ Description of what you notice about the pie chart(s)
straightaway
7. There are a wide variety of different percentages.
8. Huge variations can be seen in the proportion of…
9. The biggest difference between the two pie charts is that…
10. There is a noticeable variation in how many…
11. The light-coloured segments represent the number of… while the dark-
coloured ones give data on…
12. There are more differences than similarities between the amount of… and how
much…
13. In two of the three pie charts,…
14. There are three segments (on each chart).
Sentence describing the structure of/ organisation of/ plan for/ body of your essay
15. I will look at the data in 19… and then move on to the later time period given.
16. I will explain the similarities between the different segments, before turning to
the differences.
17. I will summarise the data related to European countries, then focus on nations
in the other parts of the world.
18. I will describe the large segments of the pie chart and then turn my attention to
the more minor parts.
19. I will describe the pie chart and then turn my attention to the table.
20. I will explain those two things in that order/ in turn (in the paragraphs below).
The most useful phrases for the body of IELTS Writing Part One: Pie chart essays
Starting body paragraphs
Starting any body paragraph
21. According to the darker segments of the chart,…
22. From the information given on the upper pie chart,…
23. Looking at the data related to…,….
24. If we look at the three largest shares shown on the chart,…
Starting the second (or third) body paragraph
25. Turning (our attention) to the remaining segments of the two charts,…
26. Moving on to the right-hand chart,…
27. The other pie chart/ The second chart/ The lower pie chart represents…
28. In (complete) contrast to the proportions in the Americas, the statistics on
Eurasia show…
29. Compared to the numbers shown on the bottom chart, those on the top one…
30. As for the other figures,…
Stating (vague and exact) proportions/ percentages/ sizes of segments
31. about/ approximately/ around/ more or less/ roughly a half of the chart is taken
up by…
32. just under/ nearly/ almost/ slightly lower than/ a little less than a third of the
total consists of…
33. above/ (just) over/ (slightly) more than… percent
34. a half/ a third/ a quarter/ a fifth/ a …th
35. two thirds/ two fifths/ two …ths
36. three quarters/ three fifths/ three …ths
37. four fifths
38. dominates/ is dominated by
39. the (vast) majority/ most
40. the (second) largest segment (namely…)
41. (very) many
42. a huge percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
43. a large percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
44. a substantial percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
45. a considerable percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
46. a small percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
47. a tiny percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/ number (of…)
48. (very) few/ little
49. a (small/ tiny) minority
50. a niche…
51. almost no
52. one in two/ in three/ in four/ in five/ in six/ in ten/ in …
53. two out of every three/ every four/ every five/ every…
54. the (second) smallest percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/ amount/
number/ group (of…)
55. …, to be precise…/ to be exact…
56. exactly/ precisely
57. quite a lot
The most useful phrases for comparing and contrasting pie charts and segments
Phrases for describing similarities between pie charts and segments
58. The two pie charts are (extremely/ very/ fairly) similar
59. This segment is (exactly/ just/ almost/ nearly/ two thirds/ half/ a quarter) as
large as…
60. Similarly, the more recent data shows…
61. The main similarity between the two pie charts is…
62. The biggest similarity between the data in… and… is that…
63. The most obvious similarity between the pie charts on the two sides of the
page is…
64. The clearest similarity between the earlier and later data is…
65. A major similarity between East Asia and Latin America is in the number of…
66. Like…,…
67. In common with that pie chart, the proportions in the other include…
Phrases for describing differences between pie charts and segments
68. While the top chart…, the bottom one…
69. The segments connected to electronic goods…, whereas those connected to
furnishings...
70. The most obvious/ main/ biggest difference between the right-hand pie chart
and the one on the left is that…
71. In contrast to that segment,…
72. In complete contrast to the three largest segments,…
73. (far/ much/ a great deal/ substantially/ considerably/ quite a lot/ somewhat/
slightly/ a bit/ a little/ a tiny bit) larger (percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/
amount/ number)
74. (far/ much/ a great deal/ substantially/ considerably/ quite a lot/ somewhat/
slightly/ a bit/ a little/ a tiny bit) smaller (percentage/ proportion/ share/ fraction/
amount/ number)
75. The largest segment is one and half times/ twice/ three times/ …. times as
large as…
76. The next biggest segment is not (nearly/ quite) as large (as…)
77. This contrasts with the situation in South Asia, where the pie chart shows
that…
78. A major difference between the first pie chart and the one next to it is the size
of…
79. An obvious difference/ A clear difference between the data in 2003 and that of
the following year is the shrinkage in…
80. Unlike the data in the earlier period,…
81. Compared to the data from the 1970s, the later period shows…
82. Comparing the two segments/ the two pie charts, we can see that…
Language for describing changes to pie charts
83. From the first to the second pie chart, this segment’s share of the total…
84. grow (grew grown) (by… percent/ … times/ substantially)
85. expand(ed) (by… half/ by a third/ by…/ twofold/ threefold/ fourfold/ …fold)
86. shrink (shrank shrunk) (by… percent/ slightly/ considerably/ dramatically)
87. (nearly/ more than) double(d)/ triple(d)/ quadruple(d)
88. halve(d)
89. remain(ed) unchanged
90. overtake (overtook overtaken)/ pass(ed)/ surpass(ed)
91. reach(ed) (a new share of)
92. match(ed)/ reach(ed) the same number as…
Describing positions of the pie charts
93. The upper pie chart/ The top chart…
94. The lower pie chart/ The bottom chart…
95. The right-hand pie chart/ The chart on the right…
96. The left-hand pie chart/ The chart on the left…
97. The pie chart above that…
98. The chart below that/ The pie chart under that…
99. To the left of/ To the right of/ Next to that pie chart is one which shows…
100. (In) between those two pie charts is one with statistics on…
The most useful phrases for IELTS Writing Task 1 line graph task introductions
Rephrasing the question/ A very brief description of the line graph given
1. The line graph (given) shows trends in… from… to…
2. The graph gives data on how… changed between… and…
3. The line graph on the left gives (past) figures on…, whereas the one on the
right…
4. The graph at the top of the page gives information on…, and the one below is
a similar collection of statistics on…
Summary sentence/ description of what you notice straightaway about the graph
5. Over the whole period (given),…
6. The biggest change is…
7. Although there is not much variation in…,…
8. From the beginning to end of the period shown, we can easily see…
9. The main trend…
10. The trend is a mix of…
11. What stands out is the huge change in…
12. The trend which stands out is…
Sentence describing the structure of/ organisation of/ plan for (the body of) Task 1
line graph task essays
13. I will describe the first… and then turn my attention to…
14. I will look at the first half of the data before I move on to...
15. I will explain the upward trends, then look at the flat and downward sections of
the data.
16. I will describe the similarities between the lines and then write about the
differences between them (in the two paragraphs below).
17. I will summarise the data related to…, then focus on…
18. I will write about the top line graph, then do the same for the bottom one.
19. I will pick out some key features of the line graph on the left, then summarise
the figures in the righthand graph.
20. The data can be split into… and…, which I will explain in that order below.
The most useful phrases for the body of IELTS Writing Task 1 line graph task
essays
Starting body paragraphs
Starting any body paragraph
21. According to the data given on…
22. From the information shown on…, it can be seen that…
Starting the second (or third) body paragraph
23. Turning (our attention) to the other graph,…
24. Moving on to the remaining lines,…
25. In (complete) contrast to the period described above, when it comes to…
26. Compared to the first half of the period, in the rest of the time shown…
27. In common with the lines described in the previous paragraph,…
Describing trends/ changes over time
Upward movements
28. advance/ climb/ expand/ go up/ grow (grew/ grown)/ increase/ rise (rose risen)
29. boom/ explode/ jump/ leap/ rocket/ shoot up (shot up)/ soar/ take off (took off
taken off)
30. creep up
31. (almost/ approximately/ more or less/ more than) double/ triple/ quadruple
Downward movements
32. collapse/ crash/ dive/ plummet/ plunge
33. decline/ decrease/ drop/ fall (fell fallen)/ go down/ shrink (shrank shrunk)/ sink
(sank sunk)
34. (approximately) halve
Big changes
35. dramatically
36. … fourfold/ fivefold/ …fold
37. sharply
Small changes/ Slow changes
38. gradually
39. (very) slightly
Straight diagonal lines (= going up or down in a straight line, without bending)
40. steadily/ at the same rate
Not straight lines
41. accelerate/ increase exponentially/ … more and more rapidly
42. slow down/ continue increasing, but not at the same rate/ … less (and less)
rapidly
Up and down trends
Up and then down
43. (pass its) peak (and then fall back)
44. (rise but then) slip back
45. (reach a) peak/ (all-time/ new) high (before…)
46. (briefly/ temporarily) reach…
Down and then up
47. (decline and then) bounce back/ rebound/ pick up/ regain lost ground/ recover
48. (experience a) dip (and then bounce back)
49. sink to a low point (before its later recovery)
50. fall to a new low (for a period of…)
Up and down and up (repeatedly)
51. experience (some) turbulence
52. fluctuate
Becoming flat
53. flatten out/ level off
54. plateau
55. bottom out/stabilise
Trends words connecting two different trends/ Comparing the movement of
two different lines
56. catch up (with)
57. fall back (against)/ slip back (against)
58. overtake (overtook overtaken)/ pass/ surpass
59. fall behind
(Suitable) verb forms for describing future information
60. … will…
61. … is expected to/ predicted to/ projected to/ forecast to…
Giving vague data and times
62. in the first half/ second half of…
63. about/ approximately/ around/ more or less/ roughly
64. just under/ nearly/ almost/ slightly lower than/ a little less than
65. above/ (just) over/ (slightly) more than
Giving exact data and times
66. to be precise
67. to be specific/ specifically
68. namely
69. (…)
Comparing and contrasting (the lines and parts of lines)
Similarities
70. (extremely/ very/ fairly) similar
71. In common with…,…
72. … share…
73. … both…
74. …, as does…
75. A major similarity is…
76. Like…,…
77. … have (two/ several/ some) things in common, including…
Differences
78. The most obvious difference/ The clearest difference…
79. An obvious difference/ A clear difference
80. Compared to…
81. …, while/ whereas…
82. In (complete) contrast (to…),…
83. Unlike…,…
84. This contrasts with…
85. The biggest/ main difference between… and… is…
86. A major difference…
87. … (almost/ almost the exact) the opposite…
88. … shows a rather different pattern, namely…
Describing times
89. (…) after/ before (…)
90. (at/ near) the beginning/ end of…
91. already
92. between… and…
93. by (the time)…
94. from… (to…)
95. in the following…(s)/ over the next …(s)
96. (more or less) in the middle of…
97. meanwhile
98. next,…
99. until…
100. when that happens,…/ when…
The most useful phrases for IELTS Writing map task introductions
Rephrasing the question/ A very brief description of the map(s) given
1. The map shows three proposed locations for…
2. The two maps (given) represent…
3. The three maps present information on the transformation of…
4. The maps (on the right and left) illustrate the condition of… before and after…
(respectively).
5. The map at the top of the page gives information on…, while the one at the
bottom shows…
6. The drawing gives a bird’s eye view of…
(Optional) summary sentence/ description of what you notice straightaway
7. Great changes are evident if we look…
8. The features on the map can be divided into two categories,… and…
9. The maps include both… and…
10. There are both similarities and differences between…
11. The two main categories of change are… and…
12. There is a noticeable lack of…
13. There is a mix of natural and manmade…
14. The most noticeable feature is the contrast between the western…
Sentence describing the structure of/ organisation of/ plan for your essay (body)
15. I will describe the major features and then turn my attention to the
relationships between them.
16. I will list the main buildings, then explain the other infrastructure.
17. I will look at the facilities and then move on to the transport connections
between them.
18. I will write about location A, then turn to the other two possible venues.
19. I will explain the similarities between the two locations, before turning to the
differences.
20. I will summarise the features of the place at present, then focus on the
planned changes.
21. I will start with a description of the left of the map, and then explain what can
be seen on the righthand side.
22. After describing the top half of the map, I will write about the main features of
the rest.
23. I will explain those two things in that order/ in turn (in the paragraphs below).
The most useful phrases for the body of IELTS map task essays
Starting body paragraphs phrases
Starting any body paragraph phrases
24. According to the information on the map,…
25. From the information given on the top map,…
26. Looking at the middle part on the map,…
Starting the second (or third) body paragraph phrases
27. Turning (our attention) to the… features,…
28. Moving on to differences between the two maps,…
29. In (complete) contrast to the situation in…, on the other map(s) it can be seen
that…
30. The other map gives information on…
31. The lower half of the map shows…
32. As for more recent situation,…
Verbs to talk about location (replacing “It is in…” with more complex language)
33. is located…
34. is situated…
35. lies…
36. surrounds/ is surrounded by…
37. There is a…
38. … can be seen (…)
39. links/ connects/ joins
40. crosses/ intersects…
41. are distributed…
42. contains…
Phrases for describing positions and distances
43. in the bottom right/ bottom left/ top left/ top right corner/ part (of…)
44. in/ near to the middle/ the centre (of the map/ of the town/ of…)
45. in the north/ northeast/ east/ southeast/ southwest/ west/ northwest/ north-
northwest
46. at/ towards the top/ the bottom (of the illustration)
47. in the bottom half/ top half (of the area illustrated)
48. on the right-hand/ left-hand side (of the area we can see on the map)
49. (right) (in) between
50. (fairly/ extremely) near to/ (comparatively/ very) close to/ in the vicinity of
Phrases for describing directions
51. (to the) north/ northeast/ east/ southeast/ southwest/ west/ northwest/ north-
northwest
52. from east to west/ from… to...
53. diagonally/ vertically/ horizontally (across the map)
Phrases to talk about how places change/ are changed
54. construct/ build/ build up
55. replace/ be replaced by
56. expand/ grow
57. be placed
58. (re)develop the former…
59. … will/ is expected to/ predicted to/ projected to/ forecast to…
Phrases for comparing and contrasting places
Explaining similarities between places
60. … both…
61. Like…,…
62. In common with…,…
Explaining differences between places
63. …, while/ whereas/ but…
64. In (complete) contrast,…
65. Unlike…,…
66. The biggest/ main difference between… and… is…
Giving vague positions, sizes, distances, etc
67. On about/ approximately/ around/ more or less/ roughly half of the land
surface,…
68. A large amount of land…
69. A small number of buildings…
70. A substantial proportion of the surface area of the island…
71. A considerable number of the trees…
72. The (vast) majority of the facilities…
Giving exact positions, sizes, distances, etc
73. There are a range of transport connections, namely…
Parts of a town
74. suburb(s)
75. outskirts
76. town centre/ city centre/ downtown
77. pedestrianised area/ traffic-free zone
78. surrounding area
79. reclaimed land
80. outlying areas
81. residential area
Places in towns (kinds of building, etc)
82. accommodation/ accommodations/ housing/ residential building
83. block of flats/ apartment building/ condo/ condominium
84. (train/ railway) station
85. shopping centre/ (shopping) mall
86. car park/ parking lot
Types of infrastructure (roads, etc)
87. (cobbled/ shopping) street
88. highway/ motorway/ freeway/ expressway
89. intersection/ junction/ crossroads/ T-junction
90. rail tracks
91. bypass
Places connected to water
92. island
93. bay/ (natural) harbour
94. coast/ coastline/ seaside/ beach
95. inland
96. jetty/ pier/ wharf
97. waterfront
98. river/ stream/ (manmade) canal
Natural places/ Natural features/ Parts of the countryside
99. field/ farm/ meadow
100. forest/ wood/ woodland

15 IELTS Writing Task 1 planning and paragraphing tips

1. The first thing to do when you open the IELTS Writing paper and look at Task 1 is to
underline important words in the task
 2. Although all Task 1 tasks say “select”, “summarise” and “compare”, you should always
underline these three words to make sure that you do those things
3. Make sure that you plan how you will split the information into (usually two) different body
paragraphs before you start writing
4. There are no extra marks for clever or original paragraphing, so you should split the
information into (usually two) body paragraphs are quickly as possible
5. The quickest way to split the information that you are given into (usually two) body
paragraphs is usually to draw a line across the task page and make one side of the line
body 1 and the other side body 2 (e.g. data up to 2002 body 1 and data after that body 2, or
the table on the left body 1 and the pie chart on the right body 2)
6. There is often a choice between a simple plan which will produce simple language unless
you try hard to include precise comparisons etc, and a more complex plan which will be
more difficult to write but will naturally produce more advanced language. As there are
advantages and disadvantages to both, it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you
choose quickly.
7. Paragraphs must be divided by an indent or blank line, and a blank line is better because it
is a clear transition and leaves space for adding extra language if you need to
8. A sentence is not a paragraph, so all paragraphs need at least two sentences
9. Don’t start new lines with each new sentence in a paragraph (because it’s an essay, not a
poem or song)
10. As long as each paragraph has at least two sentences, there is no need for the length of
the body paragraphs to be similar
11. Good paragraphs should have just one topic (however broad or narrow), should have
clearly different topics to the other paragraphs, and should be readable on their own without
the rest of the essay (so avoid starting with “However,…”)
12. Changing topic phrases like “Turning (our attention) to…”, “Moving on to…” and “As for…”
are useful both for starting body 2 (where they are much better than “Secondly,…”), and for
other parts of the exam like Writing Task 2 and Speaking Part 2
13. You should practise underlining key words in the question and then making a plan until you
can do it in three minutes, maybe sometimes without writing the essays
14. To make the second body paragraph readable on its own, any linking phrases should
mention what they are referring to, e.g. “In contrast to Japan,…”, not just “In contrast,…”
15. If you use an indent between paragraphs, there is no need for an indent at the beginning of
the introduction, and you don’t need a blank line as well (although just a blank line with no
indent is probably a better option)

IELTS Writing Task 1 first paragraph tips/ IELTS Writing Task 1 introduction tips

1. The best structure for an introduction is three sentences, with the first sentence rephrasing
the question, then a summary sentence, and a final sentence with an explanation of the
topic of each body paragraph/ the organisation of the essay/ the structure of the essay such
as “I will describe these two charts in that order”
2. Although you will see many model answers without this, it’s best to always end the
introduction with a sentence like “I will describe the past data then turn my attention to the
future figures”, in order to force you to plan carefully, to show that you have done so, and to
make the essay easier for the examiner to understand
3. Avoid ending the introduction with very general, uninformative and obvious descriptions of
what you will do in the body such as “I will describe this data below”
 4. Although many model answers have final summary paragraphs, these paragraphs often
have only one sentence, usually add nothing for someone who has read the body, would
almost always make more sense in the introduction before you go into detail, usually repeat
words from the question or body, and are nothing like what would be at the end of
descriptions of data in real academic papers with data in this position. It’s therefore always
better to put a summary sentence in the introduction.
5. If it is difficult to write a short (usually one-sentence) summary of the data, it makes more
sense to write about whatever else stands out about it, which is usually the first thing that
strikes you when you first look at it (and so should be quick and easy to choose)

15 IELTS Writing Task 1 time management tips

1. Perfect timing for Writing Task 1 is three minutes to underline key words and plan, three
minutes to write the introduction, ten minutes to write the body, then four minutes to edit
everything you have written
2. You should practise underlining key words in the question, making a plan, and writing the
introduction within six or seven minutes (sometimes also useful practice without writing the
body of the essay)
3. It’s much better time management to write quickly and then go back over it to edit than it is
to write slowly and carefully, so you should try not to stop and correct too much as you are
writing
4. To save wasting time counting every word, always do practice tasks on official answer
sheets so that you know how many words you write per line and so can just count the
number of lines and multiply to make sure you are well over 150 words
5. If you are not sure if you have written the right number of words, estimate the number of
words per line from the first couple of lines, count the number of lines, then make sure that
the total is over about 158 words
6. Although Writing Task 2 is twice as important as Writing Task 1, it’s not a good idea to start
with Task 2, as you could easily use up the whole hour on that and so not reach the word
limit on Task 1
7. If it’s difficult for you to reach over 150 words in 20 minutes, try to analyse the question and
plan much more quickly, always write basically the same kind of introduction, edit as
messily as you like and so try to reduce eraser use to zero, and edit after you finish more
than when you are writing
8. There are no extra marks for neat editing or beautiful handwriting, so just try to write as
quickly as you can
9. If you are worried about how messy your writing can be, the general rule is that anything
that the examiner can easily understand is fine (however ugly it looks)
10. If you are having problems planning within three minutes, don’t think twice about which key
words you underline, don’t analyse the data before you make a plan, and write a very short
plan (e.g. “Body 1: men, Body 2: women”).
11. If you are spending too long writing your introduction, don’t waste time on rephrasing (using
the same word if nothing instantly comes to mind, then trying again when you edit), write
whatever is most obvious about the data in your summary sentence, and always use more
or less the same sentence to explain the organisation of the body
12. There is no maximum word limit in IELTS Writing Task 1, but if you write over around 165
words then you will waste time that should be used on editing or on Task 2, and may
describe too much data instead of selecting and summarising
 13. If you often run out of time in Task 2 without reaching 250 words, try to speed up Task 1
until you can completely finish (including a final edit) within 18 minutes
14. In the unlikely event that you write an essay that doesn’t match what you described in your
introduction, it’s obviously much quicker to change the intro to match the body than it would
be to change the body
15. There are no extra marks for the kind of clever calculations that are needed to write things
like “There was then exactly a one third increase”, such calculations take up time, and
simpler approximations like “over 30%” show more of a range of language.

IELTS Writing Task 1 task completion tips

1. You must reach over 150 words in 20 minutes, as even 149 words will mean that you lose
marks
2. You shouldn’t speculate at all about the information in Task 1, so don’t write about reasons,
consequences, etc.
3. You shouldn’t use your own knowledge in Writing Task 1, so don’t give a background to the
topic, don’t compare with the data that you know about your own country, etc
4. Although the task says to compare “where relevant”, comparing and contrasting is actually
relevant 99% of the time, so you should include phrases like “much higher”, “completely
different” and “very similar” if at all possible
5. Even if there is very little information on the task sheet, e.g. it’s a flowchart with few steps,
make sure that you still select and summarise, not describe everything
6. If you reach the end of the essay and are just a few words short of around 158 words, it’s
usually best to add a few words to make longer (and more impressive) sentences as you
edit
7. If you reach the end of the essay and are over 10 words short of about 158 words, it’s best
to add a sentence to somewhere in the text (not usually at the end of the text)
8. If you need another sentence to reach the word limit and can’t think of anything else, a
possibility is to add a sentence explaining the parts of the visuals to the introduction such as
“The vertical axis represents… and the horizontal axis represents…”

20 IELTS Writing Task 1 language tips

Grammar in IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. Although in real life it is common to use present tenses to describe past and future data, to
show your range of language you should use past tenses to describe past data and future
forms for future data, leaving Present Simple for the rare case of trends which are repeated
such as sleep patterns every day
2. To avoid repeating “will” too much for future data (and to avoid things with different
meanings like “going to” and “might”), use “It is predicted/ forecast/ expected/ projected/
estimated that…”
3. It is very likely that you will need irregular verbs like “rise/ rose/ risen”, “fall/ fell/ fallen”, and
even “weave/ wove/ woven”, so it’s worth memorising such forms
4. Present Perfect sentences like “have rebounded” can only be used for data that starts in the
past and goes up to the time of writing, so are very unlikely to be useful in IELTS Writing
Task 1
 5. You should be careful not to overuse passive voice, as many possibilities like “was
increased” are wrong as we don’t know or care who did it and some common verbs like
“occur” never take the passive voice
6. Although the examiner will be impressed by proper use of complex tenses such as “had
already peaked” and “will be flattening out”, you should only use them when they are
natural, as trying to force them into the essay is likely to lead to selecting unimportant data
and/ or making mistakes with the grammar
7. Grammar is generally much less important than other things such as typical phrases and
spelling, but it might be worth studying prepositions, articles/ determiners and irregular
verbs to prepare for this part of the test
8. Students sometimes try to avoid “I” in Writing Task 1, but this is unlikely to be worthwhile as
you have to use it anyway in Writing Task 2 to give your own opinions, use personal
experience to support those opinions, etc

Functional language in IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. Much more than grammar and even vocabulary, the most useful language to learn for the
exam is phrases for comparing and contrasting, starting paragraphs, approximating, etc
2. A good way of communicating more and showing your range of language is to be more
specific, e.g. writing “far more popular” instead of “more popular”, “rocket” instead of “climb”,
and “bottom out” instead of “become flat”
3. If possible, comparisons should include both similarities and differences, and general
statements like “They are almost completely different” and more specific comparisons such
as “At that point, the data in Sweden outstripped that of Denmark by…”
4. To show your range of language and avoid having wasting time staring at the data, you will
need language to estimate such as “most…”, “above…”, and “approximately…”

Numbers in IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. Small and simple figures like “twelve” and “a hundred” should be written as words, and
large and complex numbers like “1,220,000” should be written as figures
2. Especially with graphs and tables, try to include a mix of sentences with numbers (“rose by
around a fifth”) and ones without numbers (“It then accelerated and reached a new high”)

Vocabulary in IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. Especially for line graphs, you will lots of language to describe trends that go up, go down,
go in both directions, are small changes, are big changes, are straight lines, are not straight
lines, etc
2. There is no need to worry about British and American English in IELTS Writing Task 1, in
fact using both can be quite useful to use both as a way of rephrasing vocabulary
3. You should be careful with language that has positive or negative connotations, as writing
“outstanding” or “improve” could seem like analysing/ speculating/ using your own
knowledge, which you are not asked to do

Rephrasing in IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. You should memorise how to rephrase the most common things in Task 1 such as “bar
graph” for “bar chart”, “chart” for “pie chart” and “process” for “flowchart”
 2. If you can’t think of a different word that you can use to avoid repeating vocabulary, try to
use a different part of speech of the same word (“fluctuation” instead of “fluctuate”, etc), or
just use the same word for now and see if anything else comes to mind while you do your
final edit
3. Less obvious things to rephrase to show your range of language include times on the graph
(“in the early 90s”, etc), and places that are mentioned (“two Scandinavian countries”, etc).

IELTS Writing Task 1 process tasks tips

1. Especially for process tasks/ flowchart tasks, it is worth studying lots of phrases for
sequencing like “When that has finished,…” and “The following step is…”
2. With process tasks/ flowchart tasks, try to include a mix of passive voice (“It is moved…”)
and active voice (“The machine moves the raw materials…”)

IELTS Writing Task 1 map tasks tips

1. For map tasks, you need phases to rephrase “It is…” for locations such as “It is located…”
and “It was situated…”
2. In map tasks, try to include a mix of positions on the map like “in the top left corner of the
map” and positions with respect to other things like “Near that shopping centre, there is…”

Editing IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. If you have managed to leave enough time for a final edit (as you really should), as well as
correcting errors such as spelling mistakes, you should try to avoid repetition, and to
increase the level of your language by adding extra words to make more impressive and
specific phrases like “increased exponentially"
2. Write all corrections above the line, above the crossed-out word(s) if there was some wrong
text, or above a little arrow symbol/ mountain symbol if it there were missing words
3. If you want to change or add a large amount of text such as a whole sentence, cross out
any original text, write the new text around the edge of your essay (i.e. at the top, bottom or
side), draw a box around that new text, then draw an arrow from the box to the correct
position in the essay (maximum two or three times per essay)
4. When you are editing, missing words are at least as common as wrong words, and the
most common missing words are articles/ determiners like “a” and “the”, so it’s worth
keeping that in mind as you go through your essay
5. Using an eraser really slows you down, so instead you should cross things off, add extra
words above the line, etc.
6. If you can’t stop yourself using an eraser too much, do some practise tasks in pen or with
your eraser hidden from you

27 preparing for IELTS Writing Task 1 at home tips

Doing IELTS Writing Task 1 exam practice tips

1. If you are doing the paper-based test, you should always write out your answers in full by
hand in pencil
2. To get used to finishing exactly on time and build up your handwriting muscles, you should
do Task 1 and Task 2 without a break at least two or three times before your real test
 3. When you do practice tests at home, don’t look at the task before you start timing yourself,
make sure you stop after exactly 20 minutes to check that you are well over the word limit,
then do extra work on your essay with the help of your textbook, model answers, a
dictionary etc to make sure you learn some useful new language

Studying for IELTS Writing Task 1 tips

1. It’s much easier to improve your range of language than your accuracy, so you should
spend at least as much time on learning new language as on trying to remember how to
correct mistakes that you have made
2. IELTS is a closed-book exam, so all useful language that you come across from the
textbook, model answers, etc needs to be perfectly memorised so that you will be able to
recall it in exam conditions (by using lists of words and phrases, flashcards, flashcard apps,
etc)
3. It’s worth starting a notebook (or similar electronic document) to collect and revise useful
language for Task 1 on lists like “ways of rephrasing common words in the test”, “trends
language – both up and down”, “comparing phrases – similarities” and “my problems with
missing words”
4. Ways of learning useful vocabulary for Task 1 with a list, flashcards or flashcard app
include with opposites, synonyms, different parts of speech, descriptions, translations, and
mistakes such as wrongly spelled words
5. Ways of learning useful phrases for Task 1 such as “In complete contrast,…” with a list,
flashcards or flashcard app include with phrases with the same meaning, gapped phrases,
phrases with errors, mixed phrases, and definitions of the kind of phrase such as “strong
contrasting phrase”
6. If you have problems with spelling, you can memorise the right spelling of common words
for Writing Task 1 by having a list or flashcards with the wrong spelling on one side and the
right spelling on the other, gapped words on one side and the full spelling on the other, the
pronunciation on one side and the spelling on the other, a gapped sentence on one side
and the word in the gap on the other, etc
7. Try to make a checklist of all the things that you should and shouldn’t do in Task 1, look at
the list before you start timed practice, check things off when you finish, and change
anything that you forgot about during timed practice (in red pen so you remember what you
had to change)
8. When you look at model answers, always examine it critically for good points and bad
points first, then search for useful language which you should memorise
9. When you look at model answers, remember that they are all either too perfect for you to be
able to reproduce in the exam (because the writer is a native speaker and/ or spent well
over 20 minutes on them) or are imperfect (because they are candidate answers, etc) and
so shouldn’t be just copied
10. Make sure that you don’t spend too much time on studying how to describe line graphs, as
completely different tasks such as bar charts and pie charts are just as likely to come up
11. Although the examiner will count every word that you write, you should avoid ever doing so,
including when practising at home, because otherwise through habit you might also waste
time doing so in the exam
12. If you find books or websites which claim to include a list of the most common mistakes with
IELTS Writing Task 1, only write down the ones which you think you could make, as the
others might be specific to speakers of other languages, less common than they claim, etc
 13. Although you shouldn’t spend too much time on doing this in timed exams, it is worth
practising rephrasing Task 1 questions as much as you can to write lots of examples of first
sentences of introductions, maybe sometimes without writing the rest of the essay
14. When you learn new words like “fluctuate”, try to also learn other parts of speech like
“fluctuation”
15. If you are preparing without a teacher, it is good practise to come back to an old attempt at
timed practice and see how you can improve it by editing more carefully, adding more
impressive language, etc.
16. If are studying with a study group/ with friends (without a teacher), useful activities include
trying to add good language from your partner’s essay to yours, taking turns writing
paragraphs of an essay, planning together, and using a checklist to check other people’s
essays
17. If you have received too many corrections on your practice essay to be able to remember
them all, concentrate on those which make your meanings unclear, which you’ve never
heard of before, and which make impressive phrases once they are corrected
18. If editing is a weak point, make a photocopy of your essay before you give it to someone
else to be edited, then see if you can find all the same mistakes a couple of weeks later
when you try to edit it again
19. If you find that you use the same basic language all the time, you could try to describe the
same data many different ways then write down which way is most likely to impress the
examiner
20. If you have a private teacher who doesn’t have much experience with teaching IELTS,
make sure that they give you feedback on planning and paragraphing, more impressive
language that you could have used, time management, etc, not just a list of mistakes that
you made in your essay
21. If you find yourself just using the same basic language every time that you write a Task 1
essay, try writing with a list of useful language to help, then later on see how much of that
list of language you can remember by brainstorming into a blank page with the same
categories (“linking expressions”, “ways of describing the kinds of charts”, “summarising
phrases”, etc).
22. Business newspapers like the Financial Times are good sources of trends language like
“rocketed” and “dived”

Improving a low IELTS Writing Task 1 score tips

1. If you have taken IELTS two or three times and your writing score is still very low, then you
are probably not reaching the word limit, are not following the instructions (e.g. not
comparing) and/ or are not paragraphing properly
2. If you need a high IELTS score but your writing score is stuck at a medium level of around
5.5 or 6.0, it’s probably because the language you are using is too simple, so you should
practise rephrasing more, using longer phrases, and using language with more precise
meanings