Task 1 basics
How many words must you write at minimum?
150 words
What should the overview describe: every detail or the big picture?
The big picture / main trends
Give one formal alternatives to shows.
Illustrates / compares / gives information about
Give a formal verb meaning went up (past).
Rose / increased
What is wrong with: “The figures went crazy between 2010 and 2015.”
Too informal — use “fluctuated sharply.”
How long should you spend on writing task 1?
20 minutes
Should an overview normally contain specific figures such as 43% or 2.6 million?
No
Should you write the graph below shows... in your answers?
no, remove "below".
Give a formal verb meaning went down.
Fell / declined / decreased
What is wrong with: “It’s clear that car ownership increased.”
Contraction — use “It is”
Task 1 is approximately what fraction of your IELTS writing score?
1/3
Should you explain WHY a trend happened in the overview?
No
Give ONE alternative for the number of people.
How many people / the figure for people
What noun comes from fluctuate?
Fluctuation
What is wrong with: “In this essay I will talk about the graph.”
about the graph.”Do not use “In this essay I will…” in Task 1
Name TWO types of visual you might see in Task 1.
Line graph, bar chart.
Name THREE things that should NOT appear in an overview.
Specific figures, reasons, opinions
Which details must stay factually unchanged when you paraphrase?
Names, numbers, dates, chart type and meaning
Rewrite using a noun: “Prices fell sharply.”
“There was a sharp fall in prices.”
What is wrong with: “The chart shows that sales rose because people became richer.”
It gives a reason that is not shown by the data
Name the four marketing criteria for writing task 1
Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Which is better for an overview: “Sales were 45, 62 and 74 million” OR “Overall, sales increased considerably over the period”?
Overall, sales increased considerably over the period.
Paraphrase: “The bar chart below shows the number of visitors to three London museums in 2018 and 2023.”
Example: “The bar chart compares how many people visited three museums in London in 2018 and 2023.”
What verb means to rise extremely quickly or dramatically?
Soar
What is wrong with this introduction: “The chart shows that visitor numbers rose dramatically from 2010 to 2020.”
It gives the trend in the introduction; the introduction should only paraphrase what the chart shows.