Types of IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you will usually encounter one or more of the following 6 different types of diagrams. These are:

1. Line Graph
2. Bar Diagram
3. Pie Chart
4. Table
5. Flow Chart
6. Map

Remember, Task 1 can be combinations of the first four types (i.e. Line graph, Bar diagram, Pie chart and Table) or only Flow chart or Map. But, also remember that, you may get variants of the above types. For instance, instead of getting a Flow Chart, you may find different pictures of the “Development phases of TV”.

“Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant” --- I can assume that, you are pretty familiar with this sentence.

If you are not, then please go through the questions of real IELTS exam which you can get in any of the Cambridge IELTS publications. You will find that this sentence is, in most cases, given at the end of the Task 1 question.

If you read the sentence carefully, you will find that “Comparison” is one important part of Writing Task 1. You are asked to “Compare” the provided data, not to just describing them.

Keeping this in mind, we can further categorize the mentioned six types of Task 1 in three broad following categories:

1^st category: Line Graph

2^nd category: Bar Diagram, Pie Chart, Table

3^rd category: Flow Chart, Map

These broad categories are devised on the basis of similarity of the wording or basis of comparison that must be used for the purpose of writing an effective Task 1.

For instance, Line graph has a unique way of describing it (such as using "increased dramatically" or "reached peak point" and such other types of phrases). But, bar diagram, pie chart and table have similarity in wording that can be used in comparing the data and which is totally different than the wording of Line graph.

To understand how you should deal with the given data, the best approach is to READ, READ and READ. Read the sample answers of Task 1 as much as you can and try to find out the similarities of wording and basis of comparison in each types of diagrams.

My articles on wording and basis of comparison on the above 3 categories will follow. But, for the time being you can practice the use of some linking words here