IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Line Graph and Pie Chart

Jun 26, 2022 | IELTS, IELTS Test, IELTS Writing

The Percentage of People Interested in Certain Sports

This mock IELTS Academic Task 1 question and answer tackles a double-graph question.

One of the most common mistakes candidates make with this kind of essay is to miss at least one of the categories from the piechart. The question does say to ‘select and report’ the main features, but this does not mean you should exclude a whole category.

Doing this would be judged as having missed a key category, which is decribed in the Task 1 marking descriptors under Band 4 for Task Achievement… 

attempts to address the task but does not cover all key features

We structured this essay in the following way…

1st Body Paragraph: a paraphrase of the question plus an overview of both charts

2nd Body Paragraph: a description of the line graph

4th Body Paragraph: a description of the piechart

The Practice IELTS Question

The line graph shows how much time was spent on social media over an 8-year period. The pie chart shows how that time was divided between different social media platforms.

IELTS Academic Writing Line graph and Piechart © englishwithanexpert.com

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

A Good Example Answer For IELTS Writing Task 1

The line graph represents the change in social media usage over an eight-year period, measured in minutes. The pie chart shows which platforms are the most popular among social media users. Overall, the time spent on the six named and one miscellaneous category increased over the period.

From 2013, time spent on social media began to rise from around 90 minutes per day to around 100 in 2015, then rose more sharply over the following two years. Usage continued to increase from 2017, but more gradually; in 2020, when around 150 minutes per day were spent on social media, usage reached a plateau and remained broadly stable over the next year. 

The smallest proportion of social media users – 3.7% – chose Reddit as their platform of choice, with marginally more people opting for Twitter and Weibo. Instagram had slightly more users, roughly 11%, while YouTube had around double that number. The largest number of users, 30.6%, chose Facebook. Almost a fifth of users, meanwhile, used a platform not named on the pie chart.

What You Can Do Next To Improve Your IELTS Writing Score?

Write your own answer to this question and receive professional graded feedback by purchasing one of our Writing Correction Packages.

If you would like to learn more, you can purchase a video course about IELTS General Task 1 essays, by visiting this page.

Or purchase our Academic Task 1 eBook, which gives you many more model essays with detailed explanations and exercises. 

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