In this post: How to connect the lines with comparisons, a rewritten body paragraph, the most common ways to lose marks, a 20-minute routine, common questions, a checklist and a quick exercise.
Writing About Trends · 3 parts
- 1. Chart types, plans and trend verbs
- 2. Two patterns, peaks and projections
- 3. Comparisons, mistakes and practice (you are here)
✦ In this post
9. Comparisons: connect the lines to each other
If you describe a trend chart one line at a time, TA will struggle to reach 7, because the task asks you to make comparisons where relevant. I suggest including at least one comparison in each body paragraph:
| What to compare | Pattern | Demonstration or my original |
|---|---|---|
| Who overtook whom | A overtook B / A outpaced B | … overtook that of other two activities in 2015 (Task 29; small fix: the other two) |
| Multiples | A was twice as high as B | In 2005, spending in Italy was more than twice as high as that in the UK. (demonstration) |
| The gap | the gap between A and B widened / narrowed | The gap between Canada and Mexico widened throughout the period. (demonstration) |
| Similar trends | A and B showed a similar trend | both fluctuated during the time frame (Task 40) |
| Opposite trends | A …, whereas B … | … decreased in Italia, Portugal, and the UK, while that in the USA witnessed an upward trend. (Task 40) |
Comparisons don’t have to be long. In the internet users essay (Task 28), I linked two countries with a single phrase, overtook that in the USA, in the Canada paragraph, and in the Mexico paragraph I wrote it was the lowest compared with other two nations. Those two sentences stopped the three lines from each telling a separate story. The small correction is that the other two nations needs the, because “the other two” are specific.
10. Rewrite example: Body 2 of the community centre essay
The community centre essay (Task 29) scored Band 7 with CC 8, but its second body paragraph had a few small problems: a broken subject–verb structure, inaccurate numbers and a sentence missing a number. Below are the original and my rewrite.
My original (Task 29, Body 2, exactly as written)
Moving to the remaining three activities, the number of people chose table tennis was between roughly 17 and 19 before 2010; following that, it grew dramatically and overtook that of other two activities in 2015, ending up the second common choice with nearly 51. Musical performances, which did not have any attenders before 2005, experienced a steady growth and finished the period at approximately 17. In contrast, the number of amateur dramatics increased slightly from roughly 26 to just below by 2015, but it began to drop significantly to around 7, which was the least popular activities at that year.
Rewrite (demonstration)
Moving to the remaining three activities, the number of people who played table tennis stayed at around 16–20 until 2010, after which it surged, overtaking martial arts in 2015 and ending the period as the second most popular activity with about 54 participants. Musical performances, which attracted no participants before 2005, grew steadily to approximately 18 in 2020. In contrast, amateur dramatics rose slightly from 26 to 28 between 2000 and 2005, before falling sharply to only about 6 in 2020, making it the least popular activity by the end of the period.
- people chose → people who played: the relative pronoun was missing, so the original clause had two verbs.
- nearly 51 → about 54: re-estimated against the graph.
- a steady growth → grew steadily: avoids the countable/uncountable question for growth and switches to the verb pattern.
- from roughly 26 to just below by 2015 → from 26 to 28 between 2000 and 2005: the original left out a number, and amateur dramatics rose only until 2005 and then fell all the way, not until 2015.
- the least popular activities → the least popular activity: singular and plural.
11. Common ways to lose marks
| Problem | Criterion affected | My example |
|---|---|---|
| The overview’s trend doesn’t match the graph | TA | Task 36 said all four sectors fell, but transport was actually flat |
| Overtaking in the wrong direction | TA | Task 36: the electricity line was overtaken, but I wrote overtook |
| Numbers misread | TA | Task 29: table tennis 54 written as 51 |
| Paragraphs split by year, each line described twice | CC | Task 36 (CC 6) |
| Adverbs and adjectives mixed up | GRA | Task 28: a steadily growth |
| Incomplete sentence (no main verb) | GRA | Task 8: with ten-twelfths of months … witnessed … |
| The same trend word repeated five or six times | LR | dramatically and witnessed appearing far too often in one essay |
| fewer/more used for proportions | LR | Task 40: far fewer than |
In this table, the first three are all TA problems, and they all come from the same habit: not looking back at the graph while writing. The acid rain essay scored only TA 5, but LR and GRA were both 7, which means the English itself wasn’t the main problem; what I described didn’t match the graph. So the order I recommend for checking is: first check the overview against the graph, then the direction of any overtaking and the numbers, and only then the grammar. A single mistake in the first two can cost a whole band in TA, while one or two grammar slips usually matter much less.
12. A 20-minute routine for trend charts
| Time | What to do |
|---|---|
| 0–2 min | Read the title, the units (%, million, tonnes) and the time range; check for projected years |
| 2–4 min | Mark each line on the question paper with a symbol: ↑, ↓, →, ～; find the highest, lowest and crossing points; decide how to group them |
| 4–7 min | Write the introduction (how … changed / over a period of …) + a two-sentence overview (overall trend + biggest change or an exception) |
| 7–16 min | Body 1 and Body 2: every line gets at least a start and end point; include peaks and crossings where there are any; one comparison per paragraph |
| 16–20 min | Check the direction of overtaking, numbers, prepositions (to / by / at), tenses, adverbs and adjectives |
13. Common questions about trend charts
Q1: Do I need to give the figure for every year? No. A line graph with 11 years and 4 lines has 44 numbers, and writing them all would certainly take you over 300 words. For each line, give the start and end points, plus a peak, a low point or a crossing; three or four numbers is usually enough. Cover the flat stretches in a single phrase such as remained stable between 2003 and 2007.
Q2: Should a change in percentages be in “percent” or “percentage points”? Going from 10% to 15% is, strictly speaking, a rise of 5 percentage points, not a rise of 5%. If you are worried about getting it wrong, the safest approach is simply to give the start and end points: rose from 10% to 15%, and you avoid the problem altogether.
Q3: Can the overview be just one sentence? Yes, but it’s risky. The overview in my Band 7.5 road spending bar chart was only one sentence because that sentence happened to give the direction for all four countries at once. In most cases, one sentence for the overall trend and one for the biggest change or an exception is a safer way to make sure you cover 2–3 main features.
Q4: Is it strange to keep using witnessed? Yes. For a while I loved witnessed, and it appeared in almost every trend-chart essay I wrote. Use witnessed, saw and experienced once each per essay at most, and elsewhere go back to the simplest verb sentences, rose, fell, remained stable, which actually read more naturally.
14. Checklist for after you finish
- ☐ Have you stated the units (%, million, tonnes)?
- ☐ Does the overview give the overall trend + one biggest change or exception?
- ☐ Does every line (every country) have a start and an end point?
- ☐ Have you covered the highest point, the lowest point and any crossings?
- ☐ Is overtook / was overtaken by the right way round?
- ☐ Prepositions: rise to (end point), rise by (size of change), stood at (position) used correctly?
- ☐ Adverbs with verbs, adjectives with nouns?
- ☐ Varied trend words, with no single word used more than three times?
- ☐ higher/lower for proportions and values, not more/fewer?
- ☐ Past simple for past years, is expected to for future years?
15. Quick practice: fill in the best word
1. The number of visitors ______ (fell a little) to 45,000 in 2012 before recovering.
2. There was a ______ (steady) increase ______ the price of gold over the decade.
3. Sales ______ (reached their highest point) at 80 units in July.
4. Coal production is ______ to fall to 20% by 2040.
5. In 2005, Canada ______ (went ahead of) the USA.
Answer
1. dipped; 2. steady / in; 3. peaked; 4. expected (or projected); 5. overtook (or surpassed). In question 2, steadily would be wrong, because it is followed by the noun increase.
Further reading
- My review of tutor Ali: streamlining my essay structure (400 → 300 words) (in Chinese)
- How to check your IELTS sub-scores (in Chinese)
- Farid, a former examiner: live feedback on Speaking and Writing (in Chinese)
- The best free IELTS websites and tools
- All my IELTS preparation notes (in Chinese)
This is the last part of “Writing About Trends”. To start again, go back to Part 1.
IELTS Notes in English · Task 1 Structure (post 3 of 7)
← Previous: What Goes in a Task 1 Overview? From Listing Numbers to Seeing the Big Picture
Next →: How to Write About Static Charts in IELTS Task 1: Proportions, Comparisons and “Respectively”
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
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