Data to analyse in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1.

In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you must write a report for a university lecturer about some graphic/pictorial information. Being able to understand and describe graphic information and data is an important academic skill.

Depending on the type of input and the task suggested, candidates are assessed on their ability to:

organise, present and possibly compare data
describe the stages of a process or procedure
describe an object or event or series of events
explain how something works

(The IELTS Handbook 2007, p.8)

This descriptive report must be at least 150 words long. When I say ‘at least 150 words’, that doesn’t mean you will score extra marks if you write 300 words! I just mean, don’t’ write less than 150 words.

During my time as an IELTS tutor , I have found that often candidates expect to find line graphs in Academic Writing Task 1 and then feel ‘cheated’ when it turned out to be a different type of chart!

So what graphic/pictorial information can you expect? I searched google images to find you some examples of the different graphs/ charts you might find.

There is no need to analyse these graphs; they are merely for you to familiarise yourself with different data types.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!