IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 

This page covers all the basic information you need to know about IELTS Academic Writing Task 1.

 

It includes:

 

 

Once you have a good understanding of Task 1, I’ll show you step-by-step how to produce high scoring essays for each of the 7 types of questions. You’ll find all these important lessons by following the links to the related pages. 

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Key Information

 

1)  You are required to write 150 words or more.

If you write less than 150 words, you are unlikely to get more than a Band 5 for ’task achievement’ as you won’t have fulfilled the marking criteria.

2)  You have around 20 minutes to plan and write your essay.

3)  You should use a formal style of writing.

4)  Task 1 contributes half as many marks to your score as Task 2. So, Task 1 is worth 33% of the total mark in the Writing test.

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Task Overview

 

You will be presented with one of the following graphics:

 

 

 

 

 

You are required to write a short report about the main features. For example, you may be asked to:

 

The format of the question will always be the same. It will include:

 

Here’s a typical question. The highlighted words are always the same no matter what type of question you get.

With the format of the question always the same, this means that you can use the same basic method and essay structure to write any essay for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1.

We’ll be looking at a model method and structure in the lesson on Planning an IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Essay. 

 

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Assessment & Marking Criteria 

 

As with all parts of the IELTS exam, Task 1 is marked according to four criteria.

These are:

Each carries 25% of the marks.

I’ve created separate lessons on Vocabulary and Grammar for Task 1, so here, we’ll look in more detail at just the marking criteria for Task Achievement and Coherence and Cohesion. We’re going to focus on Bands 6 – 8 as these are the levels most students are aiming for.

You can see a full table of all the band level marking criteria for Writing Task 1 by clicking this link – Task 1 Marking Criteria. 

 

Here are the marking criteria for Task Achievement and Coherence and Cohesion. Don’t worry if the detail seems rather complex. Don’t feel overwhelmed. If you follow my advice in all the lessons on how to write essays for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you’ll be able to meet these criteria and get a good score.

 

Marking Criteria – Task Achievement 

 

Marking Criteria –  Cohesion & Coherence 

 

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The 7 Types of Task 1 Questions

 

Now, we’re going to look briefly at the different type of questions for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 and a sample question for each.

The biggest challenge for many students is that they are not used to working with charts, graphs and tables and don’t know how to interpret this type of data. Don’t worry about this for now as I’m going to show you how to do this in the step-by-step guides.

On this page, I just want to familiarise you with the question structure and the different types of graphics you might get.

First, a reminder of the 7 question types:

 

Click the links for step-by-step instructions on how to write each type of essay, including a model answer. 

1) Bar Chart

Bars charts or bar graphs are very common Task 1 questions. The data can be presented vertically, as in the example below, or horizontally.

Example:

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2) Line Graph

Line graphs are also common in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. They are easier to interpret than they may look.

Example:

Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

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3) Table

Tables also come up regularly in Task 1. Some students find these harder to interpret as they are just sets of numbers with no visual representation. However, they are never very complicated. Remember, the IELTS exam is designed to test your language skills, not your mathematics ability.

Example:

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question including a model answer:

Table Chart – Instructions & Model Answer

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4) Pie Chart

Although pie charts are not as common as bar charts and line graphs, you need to know how to answer this type of question in case you do get one. They are just another way of visually presenting data.

 

Example:

 

Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

 

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question including a model answer:

 Pie Chart – Instructions & Model Answer

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5) Process Diagram

Another less frequent question type is the process diagram. It could be a natural process such as the water cycle, a manufacturing process or the diagram of a system such as the central heating system in a house.

Example:

Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

 

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question including a model answer:

Process Diagram – Instructions & Model Answer

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6) Map

Occasionally, the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question will be about a map. It may ask you to compare two or three maps of a place over a period of time as in this question.

 

Example:

Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

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7) Multiple Graphs

Multiple graph questions have more than one type of diagram and are fairly common. They usually include two diagrams such as a bar chart and a line graph or a pie chart and a table as in this sample question.

Example:

Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

Now that you have a better understanding of IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 and are familiar with the 7 different question types, you’re ready to learn how the write a Task I essay.

Just follow the links below to the individual lessons.