In this post: How to tell which of the four Task 1 types you are facing, what each of the four paragraphs does, and a word bank for paraphrasing the task in your first sentence.
Task 1 Basics · 3 parts
- 1. Chart types and paragraph blueprint (you are here)
- 2. Overview, body grouping and tenses
- 3. Data, timing, mistakes and practice
✦ In this post
Before writing this mini-series, I went back through every Task 1 essay I sent off for marking between May and July 2024. In that period I wrote 27 Task 1 essays (including one rewritten mixed-chart task), and every one of them came back with four criterion scores. One thing stood out clearly: of the 13 essays in the first half (21 May to 14 June), only 5 reached Band 7; of the 14 in the second half (16 June to 2 July), 11 reached Band 7 or above, including a bar chart that scored 7.5. My English did not suddenly become much stronger in between. What really changed was the structure: my overview became a fixed two sentences, my body paragraphs started to follow a logic, and I learned to choose which data to include.
So this post is the overview of the whole Task 1 Structure mini-series. Whether you get a line graph, a pie chart, a process diagram or a map, the four-paragraph structure and the checks below apply. I cover the verbs and sentence patterns specific to each chart type in the next four posts.
1. Identify the type first: there are really only four kinds of Task 1
Academic Task 1 visuals look endlessly varied, but if you sort them by the grammar they need, there are only four kinds. The first thing to do when you see the task is not to rush into the numbers, but to decide which kind it is, because that decides the tenses and verbs for the whole essay.
| Type | How to recognise it | Core grammar | Tasks I wrote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trend charts | There is a time axis: two or more years or months (line graphs are typical, but bar charts and tables can be too) | Trend verbs + adverbs, past simple, is expected to for projections | Monthly metal prices (Task 8), internet users (Task 28), community centre activities (Task 29), acid rain emissions (Task 36), spending on roads (Task 40) |
| Static charts | Only one point in time, or no time at all; the point is which is bigger and which is smaller | Proportion language, comparatives and superlatives, while/whereas | Water use by region (Task 2), household spending in Hong Kong and the UK (Task 14), underground railway comparison (Task 22), coffee habits (Task 16) |
| Processes | Arrows and numbered stages, describing how something is made or how a natural cycle works | Present simple passive, sequencing words | Plastic bottle recycling (Task 9), instant noodle production (Task 13), brick making (Task 26), bio-ethanol (Task 37) |
| Maps | Two (or more) plans of the same place in different years, or a future plan | Past simple / present perfect / will be + past participle, location words | A park (Task 18), hospital roads (Task 19), an industrial area plan (Task 31), a harbour (Task 33) |
2. The four-paragraph blueprint: what each paragraph does and how many sentences it needs
The structure I eventually settled on has four parts: paraphrase the task, overview, Body 1 and Body 2, at around 170–200 words. You can put the paraphrase and the overview together in the first paragraph or keep them separate. Later on I usually wrote one introduction sentence followed directly by two overview sentences in the same opening paragraph; if you want the examiner to spot the overview immediately, you can also give it a paragraph of its own.
| Paragraph | Sentences | What to write | Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 1 | Paraphrase the task: chart type + topic + place + time. No numbers and no conclusions. | 20–30 |
| Overview | 2 | The 2–3 most important features of the whole visual: largest/smallest, overall trend, exceptions or the biggest change. No specific numbers. | 30–45 |
| Body 1 | 3–4 | The first group of data (grouped by category, time or trend). Every sentence carries data. | 55–70 |
| Body 2 | 3–4 | The second group of data, ideally with one sentence comparing across the groups. | 55–70 |
In my own notes I wrote two rules: every body sentence must contain data, and the overview must have two sentences. These were the two changes that made the biggest difference in moving me from 6.5 to 7. In earlier essays such as the household income one (Task 5), my overview only said which group was largest and which was smallest, without mentioning how things changed across the three years, and the body then reported numbers group by group. It read like a running list of data.
3. The first sentence: a paraphrasing word bank
The aim of paraphrasing the task is simple: keep the meaning exactly the same and change about half the words. Don’t force in difficult words, and don’t add information the task doesn’t give. These are the substitutions I used most:
| Words in the task | You can write | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| The chart/graph shows | The line graph illustrates / The pie charts compare / The table gives information on | Name the visual correctly: bar chart, line graph, pie chart, table, diagram, maps |
| the number of … | how many … / the figure for … | how many + noun + verb, e.g. how many people participated in |
| the percentage of … | the proportion of … / what proportion of … | For percentage data, don’t write the number of |
| from 2000 to 2020 | between 2000 and 2020 / over a two-decade period | For projections, add with projections up to 2040 |
| in six areas of the world | in six regions across the world | Some countries need the: the USA, the UK |
| by annual income | according to their yearly income | by + noun takes no -s: by region, by country |
My own sentences: good paraphrases vs ones that needed fixing
✓ Good The line chart compares how many people participated in five activities at one social center in Australia, Melbourne between 2000 and 2020.
(Task 29, Band 7) I turned the numbers of participants into how many people participated: changing a noun phrase into a clause is the easiest natural paraphrase. The place would read better in the order in Melbourne, Australia.
✓ Good The given picture illustrates the procedure by which plastic bottles are recycled and transformed into a variety of products.
(Task 9, Band 7) An all-purpose opening for process diagrams: the procedure by which … are processed and transformed into …
✗ My original The given pie charts compare how the water be used in six areas around the world.
→ Better The pie charts compare how water is used for different purposes in six regions of the world.
(Task 2) how must be followed by a complete clause, so it needs is; water is uncountable and used generally here, so no the; and “different purposes” is the core of the task, so it cannot be left out.
✗ My original The line chart compares the export earnings and the given table illustrates …
→ Better The bar chart compares the value of one country’s exports in five categories in 2015 and 2016, while the table shows …
(Trial rewrite 2) This was actually a bar chart. Getting the chart type wrong in the very first sentence makes the examiner wonder whether you looked at the visual carefully.
✗ My original The pictures illustrate the transformation of Grange Park as it first be built in 1920 and it is today.
→ Better The plans illustrate how Grange Park has changed since it first opened in 1920.
(Task 18) The verb be needs to change form, and the two as clauses should be parallel: as it was in 1920 and as it is today.
Continue reading · Part 2 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