General information about IELTS writing task 1

1. Unit 1
Writing
Spelling
COMPLETE IELTS (4-5)

2. Warm-up
What are the main reasons for visiting New Zealand?

3. Task TypesTask Types

4.  Minimum 150 words , you will lose marks if you are under this number
of words.
The task is to DESCRIBE data or a process. Do not give opinions or
solutions.
Your language should be academic and formal in style. Do not use
abbreviations or contractions.
You should allow no more than 20 minutes to complete the task.
 You shouldn’t write your opinion shouldn’t write your opinion or copy words from the task prompt –
rephrase and use synonyms instead.
 Never use bulletsNever use bullets, write as if you were writing an essay or a letter.
Writing Task 1 –Writing Task 1 – General information

5. Structure

6. !!!!!!You need to remember that you are describing a graph to
someone who doesn’t see it. Write what the graph is about, its
dates and location.
The
Introduction
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph below shows changes in the amount and type of fast food consumed by Australian
teenagers from 1975 to 2000.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The line graph illustrates the amount of fast food consumed by
teenagers in Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years.

7. The Body should describe the most important trendsmost important trends, while all information
is summarized to avoid unnecessary details.
Notice how many distinctive features the diagram has and divide
information into paragraphs, one paragraph per featureone paragraph per feature. You should link the
paragraphs by sentences that logically connect them to one another.
Important!Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the
subjects of graph. If it shows several years (1992, 1993, 1994) – write
about all of them, if it is about men and women – write about both.
Remember, summarizing doesn’t mean throwing away information. The
secret here is to select what’s important, organize it, compare and contrast.
The Body

8. The Conclusion /
Overview
The Conclusion should sum upsum up the global trends
shown on the graph and compare them if possible.
 Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the
period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were
eaten increased.

9.  Use your own words when writing the summary,
not lift words and phrases from the question.
 Order the information in a logical way (e.g. from
largest to smallest)
 Include an overview of the main points of the
information given.
Remember!!Remember!!

10. for a holidayfor a holiday

11. 29%29%
The number of people who go to New Zealand on business.The number of people who go to New Zealand on business.
other reasonsother reasons
for pleasurefor pleasure

12. go to New Zealand
The largest percentage
see friends and family thirteen percent
other reasons
for pleasure

13. 1. What’s the purpose of the 1st
sentence? To introduce the subject
2. Does the summary contain all the main information from the
chart, including numbers? Yes
3. Is the information presented in a logical way (e.g. from the
highest figures through to the lowest)? Yes
4. What is the purpose of the final sentence?
To give a general overview of the main features of the information.

14. The chart shows where visitors to New Zealand come from.

15. Australian
UK: 12 percent US: 9 percent

16. 12 percent
Yes. “other”
They come from English – speaking countries

17. second
come from
other countries
60 percent

18. Number + percent
60 percent (%)
13 percent (%)
The percentage of + noun
The percentage of teenagers
The percentage of people

19. percent
percentage
percent
10 percent
percent of the population
percent (X2)
percentage of people

20. what international visitors to New
Zealand do when they are on holiday
85%
go sightseeing 45%
50%
40%
going to museums
people

23. 2. bosses
3. boys
4. feet
5. men
6. matches
7. parties
8. wives

24. 2. children 3. countries
4. cities 5. lives
6. families 7. watches
8. potatoes 9. activities
10. crashes