IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Information and Advice

Many students seem to miss basic facts about IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, so this page is to fill in some of that missing information. There are also separate pages for more detailed information and advice for each part.

General

Task 2

Timing	20 minutes for Task 1
Number of Tasks	1
Task Types	In Academic Task 1, you have to describe some visual information in your own words (a graph, table, chart or diagram). You must write more than 150 words in about 20 minutes. Task 1 could have one of the following for you to describe: a line chart a bar chart a pie chart a table a map a cycle or process or a question that combines 2 or more of them.
Skills Tested	This task tests if you can give a well-organised overview of the visual information using language that is appropriate in its register and style. Depending on the task type, you will be assessed on your ability to: organise, present and possibly compare data describe stages of a process or procedure describe an object, event or sequence of events explain how something works.
Marks	Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to your overall Writing score.

You should not reproduce a piece of writing that you have done in class on a similar diagram. It is essential that you fully address the specific task in the exam, and a pre-learned answer is very unlikely to meet the exact requirements.

Writing over 150 words is an integral part of task achievement. If fewer words are written, this is likely to mean that the task has not been successfully completed.

It is important to become familiar with the types of questions in each task and the time it takes to write them.

You have 20 minutes for he academic Task 1 writing task, which is enough time to make a brief plan and write the required number of words.

There are four assessment criteria (things which the examiner thinks about when deciding what score to give you):

Task achievement/response
Coherence and cohesion
Lexical resource
Grammatical range and accuracy.

For the paper test, you must write your answers on the lined pages in the separate answer sheets for Writing. There is no need to make a fair copy of a response, and copying what has already been written is a waste of time in the exam. If you need to make an alteration to what you have written, you should cross out the relevant words. The Writing Examiners will then ignore those words. Crossing out and making legible alterations will not have a negative effect on a candidate’s mark.

Use the official Cambridge IELTS Exam books for official writing questions and sample answers, which also have examiner’s comments. There are also questions and sample answers here and here.

a) Read the questions carefully, highlighting or underlining the most important parts. Then you need to make a plan, referring closely to the question and looking for opportunities to develop (expand) your ideas and show your range of language.

b) You should be familiar with the structures you can use for these essays, so you can quickly input the data.

c) Think of the task as describing the main aspect of the graph, table etc to someone who cannot see it.

d) Imagine you meet your boss in the elevator and he asks you about the subject. He isn’t interested in every little detail, he is interested in the key features, which is what you should write about.

e) Key features are usually starting points, finishing points, highs, lows, noticeable trends and crossover points.

f) Be accurate when you report the data.

g) Using a variety of linking words is important, as is ensuring that the flow of ideas in the writing is logical and easy for the reader to follow.

h) Although many advise that you should use a range of complex language, in Academic Writing Task 1, trying to use such grammar in such a short essay can be time consuming. Finish the task, then improve it.

i) Be aware of the importance of spelling and punctuation. Although spelling errors and faulty punctuation are not specifically penalised, they can sometimes impede communication. (N.B. American usage and spelling are acceptable.)

j) Always plan so you can check your work.

g) Practice typing and editing your answers, so you can complete both tasks within the required time.

h) The questions are in a booklet. The answers are written in a separate booklet with lined pages.

i) Any corrections candidates make should be clear, so that they can be easily followed.

j) Counting words wastes time in an examination and leads to clumsy alterations to what a candidate has already written. Practice writing tasks within the word limit so that you can estimate when you have written enough.

k) It is important to write clearly so that the answers are easy to read.

l) It is not important whether you write in upper or lower case, or whether their writing is joined up or not.

I hope that has helped to give you a better understanding of what is required for the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, and that you will look into each part in more detail. There is a full list of pages on the IELTS Writing test here. Good luck with your test!