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How To Structure Your Writing Task For Academic Task 1

The document provides a step-by-step guide for structuring a summary of pie charts for the IELTS Writing Task 1 exam. It recommends: (1) preparing by analyzing the biggest/smallest sections and key details; (2) organizing the information into two groups focusing on major trends/groups; and (3) structuring a four paragraph response that introduces the charts, discusses each group, and summarizes overall trends. It also provides tips for accurately interpreting pie charts and using appropriate vocabulary and tenses.

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CELL IELTS
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152 views

How To Structure Your Writing Task For Academic Task 1

The document provides a step-by-step guide for structuring a summary of pie charts for the IELTS Writing Task 1 exam. It recommends: (1) preparing by analyzing the biggest/smallest sections and key details; (2) organizing the information into two groups focusing on major trends/groups; and (3) structuring a four paragraph response that introduces the charts, discusses each group, and summarizes overall trends. It also provides tips for accurately interpreting pie charts and using appropriate vocabulary and tenses.

Uploaded by

CELL IELTS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Structure your Writing Task for Academic Task 1 – Pie

Chart IELTS
To help with your IELTS Preparation we will give you a step by step guide on how to
structure your Pie Charts description to receive great results on your Writing Task 1
Exam.

Step 1 – Prepare

 Look for the biggest and smallest sections of your Pie Charts – what do they
represent? What is the percentage?
 Make a quick analysis – note down the times, dates and measurements.
 See the big picture, avoid getting lost in the details. After all this is a summarizing
task.
 When you are confident you have selected the main features, carry on to Step 2.

Step 2 – Organise your findings into two groups

When organising the information into two separate groups focus on these topics for your
pie charts:

 Major trends
 Major groups
 Exceptions
 Group information
 Other similar ideas

Step 3 – Structure everything into this Four Paragraph model

Paragraph 1

Write one sentence explaining what the graphs show. You can paraphrase the title.

Example:

Pie Chart title: Holiday destinations chosen by Welsh people 1955-2005.


Your first sentence: The pie chart shows the vacation preferences of Welsh people over
a fifty-year period starting in 1955 and finishing in 2005.

Paragraph 2

Talk about the information that you have separated in Step 2. Focus on the first group.

Paragraph 3

Talk about the information that you have separated in Step 2. Focus on the second
group.

Paragraph 4

Two sentences summarising your description. (What are the major overall trends,
changes, etc.)

1.Tips for Interpreting Pie Charts in IELTS


We will begin by giving you some general tips for interpreting a Pie Chart in your IELTS
Academic Writing Task .

These tips are good to keep in mind from the moment you take the first look at the Pie
Charts given to you, to the moment you finish your writing task 1:

 If you cannot compare the information of your Pie Charts, don’t panic. In such a
case giving a summary of each picture is fine. Make comparisons where relevant.
 Avoid giving personal opinions at all costs. (E.g. If the graph shows rising
prices and you know it’s because of a war in Middle East, do not say anything.
Your personal opinion must not be mentioned.)
 Always pay attention to the time frame of your Pie Charts and use the
appropriate tense (past, present or future).
 Focus on getting all of the appropriate data from the Pie Charts/Graphs into
your writing.
 These are quick tips, if you are still struggling you should consider enrolling in an
online course to prepare for IELTS.
 For pie chart interpretation examples and model essays, click here.

2. Vocabulary for IELTS Pie Charts


Now that you have the understanding of how to structure your description of Pie Charts
and Graphs for IELTS Writing Task 1, let’s talk about the language you should use.
Accounted for, made up, constituted, comprised

Energy production in the UK comprised 4% oil, 15% renewables,22.5 nuclear power


and 31 percent gas in 2011.

In 2014, coal and gas accounted for 58.5% of energy production in the UK collectively.

The percentage of energy produced by oil was 4% in the UK in 2014.

Small percentage, smaller percentage, large fraction, small fraction, large segment

Here are a few examples of good wording for the largest section of your Pie Charts:

It is clear that ____represents the largest portion of _____, whereas _____ is


undoubtedly the smallest.

Sales of _____ stood at __% in 1925, which is the majority of_____.

(If the percentage is around 60%) – Nearly a third…

(If the percentage is around 52%) – Over a half of all respondents…

Here are a few examples of good wording for the smallest section of your Pie Chart:

A small fraction…

Exactly 30% of students…

(If the percentage is around 25%)  Roughly a quarter of respondents

…whereas sales for _____ were just 10%.

In 1955 approximately three quarters were ____, whereas in 1960 this had fallen to just
under a fifth.

Written form Percentage Fraction

a half 50% 1/2

a third 33% 1/3

two thirds 66% 2/3


three quarters 75% 3/4

a quarter 25% 1/4

Presentation at Slideshare.net: How to describe a pie chart

3.Which tense should you use?


These are the two basic rules you should follow:

Check the graph title, and the pie chart subtitles, look for dates! 

– if the year is before the present year (i.e. 2018), use the past tense
– if the year is after the present year (i.e 2019), use the future tense
– if there is no year, use the present simple tense

Check you don’t accidentally switch the tense half way through.
Sometimes you will get charts and graphs that will require you to use more than one
tense, but do this deliberately and with caution.

For a more in depth tutorial about tenses check out this page: 126 IELTS Academic
Task 1 – What tense?!

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