In this post: My six TA 5 overviews diagnosed one by one, what my four TA 7–8 overviews got right, and why the overview works as the body's table of contents.
What Goes in a Task 1 Overview · 3 parts
- 1. Fake overviews and the formula
- 2. My TA 5 vs TA 7–8 overviews (you are here)
- 3. Label, group, name and practice
✦ In this post
6. My six TA 5 essays: the overviews one by one
All six essays below scored TA 5. I have copied each overview exactly as I wrote it and diagnosed it against the five types in Part 1. Three of them (Tasks 16, 19 and 36) already have full rewrites in the Band Score Samples posts, so here I only cover the key points and link to them.
Task 5, household income bar chart (TA 5 / overall 6): the half overview
My original overview
Overall, it is clear to see that households with more than $100,000 annual income were higher than all the other groups except 2011. In contrast, households in $75,000-$99,999 salary group were the least in all sample years.
Both sentences are correct, but they only answer “which is largest and which is smallest”. This chart covers three years, 2007, 2011 and 2015, so it is a trend chart, yet the overview says nothing at all about change: the highest-income group grew clearly by 2015, the middle-income group barely changed, and the two lower-income groups peaked in 2011. In other words, I wrote a trend chart as if it were a static chart.
Rewrite (demonstration)
Overall, households earning $100,000 or more formed the largest group in 2007 and 2015, and this group also grew the most over the period. By contrast, the $75,000–$99,999 bracket was the smallest throughout, while the number of households earning $50,000–$74,999 barely changed.
Task 13, instant noodle process (TA 5 / overall 6.5): the unfilled template
My original overview
Overall, the whole process comprises eight stages, beginning with the collection of raw materials, moving through the production of noodles, and culminating in the packaging of the final products.
The number of stages is right, but the starting point says the collection of raw materials, when the first stage on the diagram is actually flour being delivered into storage silos; and the end point, packaging, leaves out the sealing shown on the diagram. You could use this sentence for any food production process, so it doesn’t show that I was describing this diagram. The full rewrite is in the process sample post; the key is to replace the template’s blanks with this diagram’s nouns: flour being stored in silos, cups being labelled and sealed.
Task 16, coffee habits bar chart (TA 5 / overall 6.5): right overview, wrong body
My original overview
Overall, went to a cafe is a most common habit in all cities except Adelaide. In contrast, the least popular habit is buying fresh coffee in all selected cities.
This is the only one of the six where the overview’s judgement was completely correct: going to a café was most common everywhere except Adelaide, buying fresh coffee was the least common in every city, and it even pointed out the exception. The problem was in the body: I misread the figures for two cities by about 10 percentage points and left a city out. The detailed comparison is in the bar chart sample post. This essay taught me that the overview is the claim and the body is the evidence; if the evidence is wrong, the claim doesn’t count either.
Task 19, hospital roads map (TA 5 / overall 6): contradicts the visual + empty line
My original overview
Overall, it has witnessed significant changes. In 2007, the only transportation allowed to park in hospital was car; in contrast, in 2010, it catered to various visitors by increasing the space of different transportation.
The first sentence is an empty all-purpose line. The second says there were only cars in 2007, but the map clearly shows a bus stop, which I even mentioned myself in the body. None of the three changes this task needed (two new roundabouts, the bus stop turned into a bus station, and the car park split into staff and public areas) appears. The rewrite is in the map sample post.
Task 26, brick-making process (TA 5 / overall 6.5): unfilled template + the stage count doesn’t match
My original overview
Overall, the whole process consists of seven steps. It begins with the collection of clay, moves through the production of bricks, and culminates in the delivering of final products.
“Seven steps” doesn’t match the number of stages I described in the body, and the most distinctive parts of this diagram (two ways of shaping the bricks, with a mould or with a wire cutter; two firing stages, each hotter than the last; and cooling afterwards) aren’t mentioned at all. Delivering should also be the noun delivery.
Rewrite (demonstration)
Overall, brick manufacturing is a linear process that starts with digging up clay and ends with the delivery of packaged bricks. The most important phase is heating: after being shaped and dried, the bricks are fired twice, first at a moderate and then at a high temperature, before being cooled.
Task 36, acid rain line graph (TA 5 / overall 6): contradicts the visual
My original overview
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.
“All four sources fell” is wrong: the transport line stayed roughly flat from start to finish. And the smallest change wasn’t domestic emissions either; it was transport. A single word, all, made the whole overview contradict the graph. The full analysis and rewrite are in the line graph sample post.
What the six have in common
| Essay | Type | The problem in one line |
|---|---|---|
| Task 5 | Half overview | A trend chart described only by ranking, with no change |
| Task 13 | Unfilled template | The start and end points aren’t this diagram’s |
| Task 16 | Right overview, wrong body | The evidence doesn’t match the claim |
| Task 19 | Contradicts the visual + empty line | There weren’t only cars in 2007 |
| Task 26 | Unfilled template | The stage count doesn’t match; distinctive features missing |
| Task 36 | Contradicts the visual | One wrong word: all |
7. My four TA 7–8 essays: what the overviews got right
Now look at the four essays that scored TA 7–8. Their English isn’t necessarily more advanced. The difference is that every word matches the visual, and the overview’s grouping is exactly how the body is divided.
Task 9, plastic bottle recycling (TA 7 / overall 7): the template filled with this diagram’s content
My original overview
Overall, the process includes nine stages, beginning with the collection of used bottles, going through the preparation of raw materials, and culminating in the production of several items.
This uses the same template as the instant noodle essay. The difference is that the blanks are filled with things from this diagram: there really are nine numbered stages, it really starts with collecting used bottles, and it really ends with them being made into various products. One thing I could improve: the arrows on this diagram go from stage 9 back to stage 1, so it is a cycle. Adding the cycle then begins again to the overview would make the features more complete (I did mention it at the end of the body, but it would be better in the overview).
Task 37, bio-ethanol (TA 7–8 / overall 7): the stage count matches the body, and the cycle is named
My original overview
Overall, a whole process consists of ten steps, beginning with the collection of energy and plants, moving through the production of ethanol, and culminating in the releasing of carbon dioxide, in which the new process begins.
This diagram has no numbers, so you have to count the stages yourself. I said ten, and you really can count ten in the body; the ending in which the new process begins makes it clear that this is a cycle. Small fixes: a whole process → the whole process, releasing → release.
Task 40, spending on roads (TA 7–8 / overall 7.5): one sentence groups every country
My original 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.
The four countries are split into “three fell, one rose”, and not one is left out. Adding a sentence saying that Portugal started highest and the UK was lowest in most years would make it a complete two-sentence version.
Task 29, community centre activities (TA 7 / overall 7): all five lines sorted into groups
My original overview
Overall, the number of participants for table tennis and musical performances has increased, while that of amateur dramatics have witnessed a downward trend. Additionally, the number of people engaged in film club and martial arts has remained essentially unchanged.
The five lines are sorted into three groups: rising (table tennis, musical performances), falling (amateur dramatics) and flat (film club, martial arts), so every line has a place. What’s missing is the ranking feature that the film club was the most popular throughout. (Grammatically, have witnessed should be has, and the past simple would be a better tense choice; see my Task 1 grammar notes.)
The overview is the body’s table of contents
Put these four overviews next to their body paragraphs and a pattern appears: however the overview groups things is how the body is divided.
| Essay | Overview grouping | Body 1 | Body 2 | CC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task 29 | Up / down / flat | The two flat ones (film club, martial arts) | The three with clear changes | 8 |
| Task 40 | Three down, one up | The two that fluctuated (Italy, the UK) | The two with different trends (Portugal, the USA) | 8 |
| Task 9 | Collection → raw materials → products | Stages 1 to 4 | Stages 5 to 9 | 7–8 |
| Task 37 | Ten stages, a cycle | The first five stages | The last five stages + back to the start | 7 |
Compare the acid rain essay (Task 36): the overview didn’t sort the four lines into groups, so the body had to be split in half by year, each paragraph went through all four lines again, and CC dropped to 6. So the overview doesn’t only affect TA; it also decides how you write the body. Think the overview through first, and the paragraphing follows naturally.
Continue reading · Part 3 of 3
IELTS Notes in English · Task 1 Structure (post 2 of 7)
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✦ 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
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