Most test candidates find IELTS Academic Task 1 to be the hardest part of the test – and most lose marks here.
Task 1 comes in a variety of different types, which only adds to the difficulty. To master this part of the test, you must become familiar with all the possible formats.
To help you develop this familiarity, we have written a model essay below based on describing a bar chart.
This essay follows the following format:
Introduction: paraphrasing the description given with the task
Body Paragraph: containing all the main data [in this essay we have divided the data between two body paragraphs]
Overview: stating the main trends [this is very important]
IELTS Academic Task 1: Example Question
The chart below shows the percentage of internet users by age group in Canada who shopped online in 2014 and 2018.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant
The Answer
The bar chart shows the percentage of Canadians who made online purchases in 2014 and 2018; the data was divided between 6 age groups.
Online shoppers started young with 1 in 5 of 15-25-year-olds completing online transactions in 2014. This percentage rose to around 33% for the 26-35 age group, before dropping about 5% for each successive age bracket. By the time shoppers reached the age of 45-55, only 22% were shopping online. This ratio then halved for 55-65-year-olds and halved again for pension aged shoppers. By 2018, the number of active online shoppers had increased by around 3% for the first two age groups. There was a more significant rise for 35-45-year-olds, who saw an increase from 27 to 38%. Thereafter, the increase for those aged 45+ rose by around 5% compared to the 2014 figures.
Overall, the percentage of those purchasing through browsers rose for all age groups over the period. The numbers peaked with the 26-35 age group in 2014 and for the 36-45-year-olds in 2018.
What Next?
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