In this post: How to pick 2–3 main features for the overview, three ways to divide the body, a Band 7.5 essay taken apart paragraph by paragraph, and a one-table guide to tenses.
Task 1 Basics · 3 parts
- 1. Chart types and paragraph blueprint
- 2. Overview, body grouping and tenses (you are here)
- 3. Data, timing, mistakes and practice
✦ In this post
4. The overview: how to pick 2–3 main features
The overview is the key to Task Achievement. In the public band descriptors, Band 7 asks for a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages; with an unclear overview or none at all, it is hard for Task Achievement to get above 6. My own experience is that a wrong overview hurts more than missing details.
Questions that find the key features
| Ask yourself | Chart type | Overview sentence frame |
|---|---|---|
| Is the overall direction up or down? | Trend charts | Overall, the figures for all … increased, while … declined. |
| What is largest? What is smallest? | Static charts, pie charts | Overall, A accounted for the largest proportion in both years, whereas B was the smallest. |
| Are there any exceptions? | All charts | … in all countries except X. |
| Which changed the most? | Trend charts, two-year pie charts | Additionally, X saw the most dramatic change over the period. |
| How many stages? From where to where? | Processes | Overall, the process consists of eight stages, beginning with … and ending with … |
| What has the place become overall? | Maps | Overall, the area has become more residential, with … |
My own sentences: good overviews
✓ Good Overall, the proportion of the authorities’ expenditure on transport decreased in Italia, Portugal, and the UK, while that in the USA witnessed an upward trend.
(Task 40, Band 7.5) One sentence splits the four countries into “three fell, one rose”, and while + that avoids repeating the noun. Adding a sentence about which country had the highest share (Portugal started highest) would make it more complete.
✓ Good Overall, the percentages of all three countries have increased. Additionally, Canada witnessed the biggest growth during the time frame.
(Task 28, Band 7) Overall trend plus biggest change: the standard two sentences. A small note: for past data from 1999–2009, the past simple increased would be more consistent.
My own sentences: overviews that needed fixing
✗ My original Overall, the emission of all four sources witnessed a downward trend; the biggest decrease happened in electricity, gas and water supply, while the smallest change was on domestic emission.
→ Better Overall, emissions from three of the four sectors fell over the period, with the most dramatic decline in electricity, gas and water supply. By contrast, emissions from transport and communication remained broadly stable.
(Task 36, TA 5) The main problem here is that the overview does not match the graph: the transport line barely moved, fluctuating in place from 1990 to 2007 rather than falling, so both “all four fell” and “the smallest change was domestic” are wrong. Once the overview is wrong, no amount of detail later can rescue it.
✗ My original However, domestic use and industrial use are the less frequent factors of water usage in three areas respectively.
→ Better By contrast, in the other four regions, neither industrial nor domestic use exceeded 20%.
(Task 2, TA 6) The second sentence was trying to give another key feature, but less frequent factors and three areas respectively are vague, and the reader cannot tell which three regions I mean. Overview sentences should be short and specific.
5. How to divide the body: by category, by time or by trend
Paragraphing is a big part of Coherence and Cohesion. The biggest difference between my CC scores of 6 and 8 was paragraphing: when each paragraph has a clear grouping logic, the examiner reads smoothly and CC goes up. Here are the options side by side:
| Grouping | When to use it | Examples from my essays | CC score |
|---|---|---|---|
| By category | Two countries, two charts, two products | Task 14: one paragraph for Hong Kong, one for the UK; Task 44: one paragraph for the pie chart, one for the bar chart | 7, 8 |
| By time | Pie charts for two years, maps | Task 11: one paragraph for 2000, one for 2010; Task 46: one for the present, one for the future | 8, 8 |
| By trend | Line graphs with four or five lines, or bar charts covering several countries | Task 29: “two activities that barely changed” vs “three that changed a lot”; Task 40: “two countries that fluctuated” vs “two with different trends” | 8, 8 |
| Splitting the timeline in half (not recommended) | Easy to misuse when there are many lines that cross each other | Task 36: one paragraph for 1990–1999 and one for 2000–2007, so each paragraph had to describe all four lines again | 6 |
The acid rain essay (Task 36) is a good example of what not to do: I split it into two paragraphs by year, so each paragraph had to go through all four lines again, and the reader had to piece together for themselves how, say, the electricity line actually moved. The community centre activities essay (Task 29) also had several lines, but I put the two activities that hardly changed in one paragraph and the three that changed clearly in another, and it reads much more clearly.
6. Breaking down a Band 7.5 four-paragraph essay (Task 40)
The road spending bar chart (Task 40) was my highest-scoring Task 1 essay: TA 7–8, CC 8, LR 7, GRA 8, overall 7.5. The task showed the percentage of government spending that went on roads and transport in four countries in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. Here it is taken apart, so you can see how the four-paragraph structure works in practice.
| Paragraph | How my original began | What worked | What could be better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The bar chart compares how the percentage of government spending changed over a period of fifteen years in four nations. | Paraphrased with a how … changed clause and turned 1990–2005 into over a period of fifteen years | It leaves out the spending category, roads and transport; it should add on roads and transport |
| Overview | Overall, the proportion of the authorities’ expenditure on transport decreased in Italia, Portugal, and the UK, while that in the USA witnessed an upward trend. | One sentence splits the four countries into three falling and one rising, with that replacing the repeated noun | Only one sentence. It could add that Portugal started highest and the UK was lowest overall |
| Body 1 | Regarding the data in Italia and the UK, both fluctuated during the time frame. | The first sentence is a topic sentence: both countries fluctuated. It then covers the starting point, low point, peak and end point | far fewer than should be far lower than (percentages are high/low); with Italia reached should be with Italy reaching |
| Body 2 | In contrast, as for the statistics in Portugal and the USA, the trends were totally different. | In contrast links the two paragraphs; Portugal fell steadily while the USA dipped and then rose, so the two opposite lines make a natural pair | totally different is a little informal; followed opposite trends would work better |
In my own analysis, this essay scored well because it did three things at once: an accurate overview, grouping with a reason behind it, and numbers in every sentence. The vocabulary is not fancy at all. Fluctuated, dropped slightly, peaked, recovered and kept increasing are all basic trend words, but placed in the right spots they are enough.
7. Choosing the tense: one table
| Time in the visual | Tense | Sentence frame |
|---|---|---|
| All past years | Past simple | The figure rose to 40% in 2009. |
| No time given (a current survey) | Present simple | Private studios account for 48% of classes. |
| Past to present (maps, “today”) | Past simple for the past; present perfect for the changes | The fountain has been replaced by a rose garden. |
| Future projections or plans | is expected/projected to, will be + past participle | The figure is expected to reach 60% by 2040. |
| Processes | Present simple (usually passive) | The bottles are sorted and then compressed. |
✗ My original To enter the hospital, people can go through a city road … (in the paragraph about 2007)
→ Better In 2007, the hospital could be reached from City Road via Hospital Road.
(Task 19) When describing the 2007 map, the modal verb needs to be in the past too.
✗ My original In addition, there are two spaces for fishing boats and marina, respectively, in the ocean. (in the paragraph about 2000)
→ Better In addition, there were separate areas for fishing boats and a marina in the water.
(Task 33) Everything earlier in the paragraph used were, and then the last sentence suddenly switched to are. This kind of tense jump is one of the common reasons for GRA 6.
✗ My original Overall, went to a cafe is a most common habit in all cities except Adelaide.
→ Better Overall, going to a café was the most common habit in every city except Adelaide.
(Task 16) A verb used as the subject must be a gerund (going); the most common needs the; and the survey covered “the past four weeks”, so the whole essay should be in the past simple.
Continue reading · Part 3 of 3
IELTS Notes in English · Task 1 Structure (post 1 of 7)
Next →: What Goes in a Task 1 Overview? From Listing Numbers to Seeing the Big Picture
Task 1 Structure · Task 2 Structure · Topic Guides · Writing Language · Band Score Samples · Practice Methods · Speaking & Study Tips
✦ Target Your Future
Some days you practise for hours and the score still does not move. I hope these notes remind you that the setbacks are part of the road: every recording you replayed, every essay you rewrote and every sentence you finally dared to say is progress you have already made.
I wrote this down so the next person can take fewer detours. You do not have to follow my method exactly. Find a rhythm that works for you, rest when you need to, and come back for the next small step.
I hope what you take away is more than a number on a score report: a little more confidence in yourself, and the courage to step a bit closer to the world.
— Ting
← Back to IELTS notes in English
Leave a Reply