IELTS Writing Task 1: a step-by-step guide with Band 9 examples

In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 you describe a visual — a line graph, bar chart, pie chart, table, map or process diagram — in at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. In General Training, Task 1 is a letter instead. This guide focuses on the Academic data task and gives you a repeatable structure that reaches Band 7+ every time, plus a Band 9 model answer.

What Task 1 is really testing

You're marked on four criteria: Task Achievement (did you select and report the key features with accurate data?), Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy. You are NOT asked for opinions or reasons — just an accurate, well-organised description of what the data shows.

A four-paragraph structure that works

• Introduction — paraphrase the question (say what the visual shows). One sentence.
• Overview — the single most important paragraph: 2–3 sentences naming the biggest trends or differences, with NO specific numbers.
• Body 1 — describe the first group of key features with data.
• Body 2 — describe the remaining key features with data.

The overview is where marks are won or lost

Without a clear overview you are capped at Band 5 for Task Achievement, no matter how accurate your figures are. The overview zooms out: what's the highest, the lowest, the overall direction, the biggest gap? Signal it with "Overall, …" so the examiner can't miss it.

Language for describing data

• Increase: rose, climbed, surged, grew, went up.
• Decrease: fell, declined, dropped, plummeted, decreased.
• Stability: remained stable, held steady, plateaued, levelled off.
• Degree + speed: a sharp rise, a gradual decline, a slight increase, a dramatic fall.
• Vary your grammar: "Sales rose sharply" (verb + adverb) and "There was a sharp rise in sales" (adjective + noun).

Band 9 model answer (line graph — coffee vs tea consumption)

Introduction: "The line graph illustrates how much coffee and tea were consumed per person in a European country between 2000 and 2020."

Overview: "Overall, coffee consumption rose steadily across the period and overtook tea, which had been the more popular drink at the start but declined consistently by the end."

Body 1: "In 2000, tea was clearly dominant at around 4 kg per person, compared with just 2 kg for coffee. Tea then fell gradually, dipping below 3 kg by 2010 and reaching roughly 2 kg by 2020."

Body 2: "Coffee, meanwhile, climbed steadily throughout, passing tea at approximately 3 kg around 2012 before peaking at about 4.5 kg in 2020 — more than double its starting figure."

Timing and word count

Spend no more than 20 minutes on Task 1 and leave 40 for Task 2 (it's worth twice the marks). Write at least 150 words — under-length answers are penalised — but don't pad; examiners reward selection of key features, not every tiny detail.

Task 1 vs Task 2 — don't confuse them

Task 1 is a factual description (150+ words, 20 minutes); Task 2 is an argumentative essay (250+ words, 40 minutes) worth double. If you're short on time, protect Task 2 — a strong essay lifts your Writing band more than a perfect Task 1.

Practise with instant band feedback

Task 1 improves fastest when you write under time and get specific feedback on your overview and data accuracy. On IELTSVega you can practise real Academic Task 1 charts (and General Training letters), then get instant AI band scoring against all four criteria — so you know exactly which paragraph is costing you marks before test day.