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Simone Braverman

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and the author of several renowned IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005, Simone has been committed to making IELTS preparation accessible and effective through her books and online resources. Her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.

Tips for the Writing Task 1 of the IELTS Academic test

As I promised to many of you, this is what you need to know about the Academic IELTS Test Writing Task 1.

The task here is to describe a graph in a report. The report is intended for a university lecturer, so the language you use should be appropriate.

There are several different graphs you could see in a Writing Task 1:

  • Single line graph – see example
  • Double line graph – see example
  • Bar graph (Single, Double or Triple bar graph) – see example
  • Pie chart – see example
  • Table – see example
  • Process

    • No matter what graph, diagram or table you are describing, you shouldn’t break these rules:

  • Your report must be of at least 150 words written in 20 minutes.
  • You shouldn’t write your opinion or copy words from the task prompt – rephrase and use synonyms instead.
  • Never use bullets, write as if you were writing an essay or a letter.

    • When your Academic Writing Task 1 is graded by IELTS examiners, they look for this structure:

    Introduction
    Overview
    Body

    The Introduction should state what the graph/chart is describing, this is basically the task prompt that has been rephrased to some extent.

    The Overview should talk about the most noticeable features/trends you can see on the graph. Remember that you are describing a graph to someone who can’t see it, so you need to visualise it for them. Don’t mention any particular figures in the overview paragraph, only the trends.

    The Body should describe the most important trends in more detail, while all information is summarised to avoid unnecessary detail. For example, if there is a graph that has 2 peaks, you should mention them; tell when those peaks appeared and what the peak values are. Notice how many distinctive features the diagram has and divide information into paragraphs, one paragraph per feature. You should link the paragraphs by sentences that logically connect them to one another.

    Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the subjects of graph. If it shows several years (1992, 1993, 1994) – write about all of them, if it is about men and women – write about both. Remember, summarizing doesn’t mean throwing away information. The secret here is to select what’s important, organize it, compare and contrast.

    The Conclusion should sum up the global trends shown on the graph and compare them if possible.

    And if you need some sample answers, here they are, enjoy.

    IELTS Essay, topic: Computers replacing teachers

    As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.

    There have been immense advances in technology in most aspects of people’s lives, especially in the field of education. Nowadays, an increasing number of students rely on computers for research and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. Others have decided to leave the original way of learning and to get knowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process have brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom.

    Some people believe the role of teachers started to fade because computers have been helping some students to progress in their studies quicker compared to studies in an original classroom. For example, in the same classroom, students have different intellectual capacities, thus some would be tied to a slow advance in their studies because of others’ incapability of understanding. In this way, pupils could progress in their acquisition of knowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers.

    However, the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positive ways. Firstly, students realize that they are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deserves attention and respect. They also learn the importance of studying in a group and respect for other students, which helps them improve their social skills.

    Moreover, teachers are required in the learning process because they acknowledge some students’ deficiencies and help them to solve their problems by repeating the same explanation, giving extra exercises or even suggesting a private tutor. Hence, students can have a better chance of avoiding a failure in a subject.

    In conclusion, the role for teachers in the learning process is still very important and it will continue to be such in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences.

    This is a great essay. Seems worthy of Band 8. No improvements are necessary, keep up the good work!