IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 sample answers
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 sample answers for line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, tables, maps and process diagrams — each written at band 6.5, 7.5 and 9 with commentary.
Every Task 1 report below describes an original chart, graph, table, map or diagram three times — at about band 6.5, 7.5 and 9 — with commentary on each criterion. The biggest difference between the bands is almost always the overview: a clear summary of the main trends or stages, without which a report cannot score above band 5 for task achievement.
Line graph sample answers
Describe the overall direction of each line, the highest and lowest points, and where lines cross. Group similar lines together rather than describing each one year by year.
How to write a line graph answer- How shoppers paid over twenty yearsFour payment methods over twenty years: cash collapses, debit cards rise and then turn, and mobile phones arrive from nowhere — a graph where the interesting line is the one that changes direction.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 186 / 203 / 234 words
- Music sales by format over twenty-five yearsFour lines, three changes of leader and a total that shrinks by a fifth before recovering — a graph where the market's shape changed far more than its size.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 181 / 184 / 228 words
- Regional unemployment before and after a shockThree regions take an almost identical hit and recover at three different speeds — a graph where the interesting movement is the widening gap, not the lines themselves.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 180 / 196 / 220 words
- Visits to libraries, museums and cinemasA line graph with a genuine reversal in it, showing how a strong overview does more for the score than any amount of extra data.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 187 / 199 / 209 words
Bar chart sample answers
Compare the bars rather than listing them: which categories are largest and smallest, and how the groups differ. Select the key figures; you do not need every number.
How to write a bar chart answer- Electricity sources in three countriesA bar chart in which three countries lean on three different sources, showing how the band 9 answer finds the pattern the 6.5 answer reads straight off the page.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 157 / 195 / 214 words
- Household recycling rates in four citiesA two-year bar chart in which the worst performer becomes the best, and three answers that differ in whether they measure that reversal against everything else on the chart.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 163 / 180 / 204 words
- Physical activity among men and women by ageA grouped bar chart where men lead among the young and women lead among the old, and the real story is how differently the two sets of bars slope.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 174 / 191 / 234 words
- Why international visitors came to one countryTwelve bars across three years, in which one category grows most, one is overtaken and one falls — and the answers differ in whether they add the bars up.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 164 / 181 / 210 words
Pie chart sample answers
Write about proportions — the largest and smallest shares, and how they change if there are two charts. Words such as 'a quarter', 'just under half' and 'the majority' help you vary figures.
How to write a pie chart answer- Energy use in an older and a newly built houseTwo pie charts with very different totals, where a slice that doubles can stand for the same energy — and only the band 9 answer converts shares into kilowatt-hours consistently.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 183 / 204 / 233 words
- How household spending changed over thirty yearsTwo pie charts thirty years apart, where the gains and the losses cancel out exactly — a pattern only one of the three answers notices.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 178 / 182 / 211 words
- Office, hybrid and remote working at one companyThree pie charts in which a dramatic middle year turns out to be the least lasting change — the answers differ in whether they see that the real winner grew only afterwards.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 167 / 187 / 216 words
- Where a city's household waste ended upTwo pie charts in which landfill loses its lead to recycling, and in which the quiet growth of incineration is the detail only one answer weighs.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 168 / 176 / 204 words
Table sample answers
Tables tempt you to copy every figure. Pick out the highest, the lowest and the most striking differences, and group rows or columns that behave alike.
How to write a table answer- Home ownership and renting by age groupTwenty years of housing tenure across five age groups, where renters overtake owners in one group and the oldest overtake everyone — two ranking changes the weakest answer reads past.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 187 / 202 / 235 words
- Household waste and recycling in five citiesFive cities, two measures and two years: every recycling rate rose, but only two cities really moved, and the early leader ended up third.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 183 / 198 / 227 words
- International enrolment across five subject areasA table of enrolment figures in which one subject supplies over half the total growth and another is the only one falling — the answers differ entirely in whether they spot that.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 170 / 184 / 200 words
- Island visitors by origin and what they spendA table where the biggest market is also the cheapest and the only one shrinking — and where the answers differ in whether they set numbers against spending at all.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 181 / 198 / 222 words
Mixed chart sample answers
Give each chart its own paragraph, and link them where the data connects. The overview should cover both charts.
- House prices, earnings and who owns their homeA line graph of prices and earnings beside a bar chart of housing tenure, and three answers that differ in whether — and how carefully — they connect the two.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 163 / 174 / 214 words
- How people commute, and why they say they doTwo datasets in one task — modal share over twenty years and the reasons commuters give — and three answers that differ in whether they ever connect the two.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 185 / 199 / 220 words
Map sample answers
Describe what changed between the two maps — what was built, removed or moved — using location language (north of, next to, replaced by) and the passive voice.
How to write a map answer- A college campus now and as plannedA present-day campus and the plan for its future, where the weakest answer lists new buildings and the strongest sees that the whole site is being turned round.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 194 / 192 / 226 words
- A fishing village that became a resortTwo maps of a small bay thirty years apart, in which every change points towards tourism — and the best answer notices that nothing old was knocked down to get there.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 190 / 192 / 230 words
- A town centre before and after redevelopmentTwo maps of the same town centre, where the weakest answer describes each map in turn and the strongest describes only what moved.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 179 / 197 / 217 words
- Two possible sites for a new hospitalOne town, two candidate sites and an almost perfect trade-off between them — a map task that rewards comparison rather than description.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 194 / 190 / 217 words
Process diagram sample answers
Say how many stages there are and where the process begins and ends in your overview, then follow the stages in order with sequencing words and the passive voice. There are no numbers to compare.
How to write a process diagram answer- How coffee is producedA strictly linear process that also splits geographically, and three answers that differ in whether they notice the split at all.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 175 / 191 / 215 words
- How glass bottles are recycledA ten-stage recycling process, and a lesson in why a process answer is scored on grouping and passive voice rather than on retelling the arrows.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 175 / 190 / 217 words
- How potato crisps are manufacturedA twelve-stage factory process in which half the work happens before any oil is used — and only the strongest answer explains why the order matters.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 176 / 176 / 203 words
- The life cycle of the dragonflyA nine-stage natural cycle drawn as an even circle, where the time spent in each stage is anything but even.Band 6.5 · 7.5 · 9 — 178 / 200 / 225 words
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Common questions
How many words should Academic Writing Task 1 be?
At least 150 words. There is no maximum, but answers under 150 words are penalised. Aim for about 170–200 words and 20 minutes, so Task 2 — which counts twice as much — gets the time it needs.
Do I need a conclusion in Task 1?
You need an overview, not a conclusion with your opinion. The overview summarises the main trends or features and can go after the introduction or at the end. Without one, task achievement is limited to band 5.
Should I explain why the data changed?
No. Task 1 asks you to report what the chart shows. Giving reasons or opinions that are not in the data is irrelevant and can lower your task achievement score.