Academic task 1 pie charts

One task that seems to concern IELTS candidates is the pie chart. I think I
understand why and I hope I have a solution. In this post I talk you
through a major difficulty and give you some language to deal with it.
Theres also an exercise at the end to test you out.
The difficulty I have nothing to say
Typically, the problem is that candidates find they have very little to say
about a pie chart in comparison with a bar chart. Really this is just a
problem of language. Very often, candidates spend a long time learning
about the language of trends when they prepare for task 1 and that
language very rarely applies to a pie chart. You need some different
language.
The necessary language
The key point is that whatever the chart looks like the language you need
is the same. Take a look at these 3 pie charts and ask yourself what
language you need.
A chart with percentages

A chart without any numbers

A chart with numbers

The answer should be obvious. When you look at all three pie charts, you
should see that you need exactly the same language: its the language
of percentages. By definition the whole pie is 100% and each share of
that pie is also a percentage. It should make little or no difference how the
pie chart is labelled.
Tip: if you see a pie chart without % figures written in, dont panic.
Consider what the % must be.
Some language variations on percentage
Another possible problem is that you find yourself repeating the word
percentage. Here are some helpful variations for you. There are
variations possible in almost every case: using a fraction or a synonym
such as proportion.

Notes
1. percentage is more correct than percent (per cent is the
correct spelling, though no one I know uses it!
2. amount is correctly used only with uncountable nouns: the
variation for countables in number
Some practice
This is an area that needs some practice to get right. So I suggest you
make a start by having a go at these two quizzes:
using percentages: a quick quiz checking you can know this language of
percentages. It should be quite easy, so Ive made it more challenging by
making it timed!
write a task 1: can you use the language for yourself by doing a practice
task 1 from the pie chart above. Try and write a good paragraph of
between 60 75 words.

Lesson 2: Describing an IELTS Pie Chart

This lesson will provide you with tips and advice on how to write an
IELTS pie chart for task 1.
To begin, take a look at the pie chart below, and then answer the quiz
questions.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts show the main reasons for migration

to and from the UK in 2007.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Pie Chart Quiz

1. What is the best way to organize your answer?

Write one paragraph about immigration and one about emigration
Write about the pie charts together, comparing each of the reasons

2. What tense should you use to write about the IELTS pie chart?
Past
Present

3. Can you talk about increases and decreases when describing the
information?
Yes
No

Now take a look at a model answer:

The pie charts illustrate the primary reasons that people came to and left
the UK in 2007. At first glance it is clear that the main factor influencing
this decision was employment.
Having a definite job accounted for 30 per cent of immigration to the UK,
and this figure was very similar for emigration, at 29%. A large number of
people, 22%, also emigrated because they were looking for a job, though
the proportion of people entering the UK for this purpose was noticeably
lower at less than a fifth.
Another major factor influencing a move to the UK was for formal study,
with over a quarter of people immigrating for this reason. However,
interestingly, only a small minority, 4%, left for this.
The proportions of those moving to join a family member were quite
similar for immigration and emigration, at 15% and 13% respectively.

Although a significant number of people (32%) gave other reasons or did

not give a reason why they emigrated, this accounted for only 17% with
regards to immigration.
173 words
_________________________________________

As you can see, the pie chart description is easy to follow. Here are some
key points in organizing your answer.
Choose the most important points to write about first
These will be the largest ones. As you can see in the model answer,
definite job, looking for work, and formal study were all written
about first, in order of importance, as these are the main reasons that
were chosen for moving.
Items such as other are usually less important and account for small
amounts, so can be left till the end.
Make it easy to read
When you write a task 1, you should always group information in a
logical way to make it easy to follow and read.
With an IELTS pie chart, the most logical thing to do is usually to compare
categories together across the charts, focusing on similarities and
differences, rather than writing about each chart separately.
If you write about each one separately, the person reading it will have to
keep looking between the paragraphs in order to see how each category
differs.
Vary your language
As with any task 1, this is important. You should not keep repeating the
same structures. The key language when you write about pie charts is
proportions and percentages.
Common phrases to see are "the proportion of" or "the percentage
of"
However, you can also use other words and fractions. These are some
examples from the model answer:

A large number of people

over a quarter of people
a small minority
A significant number of people
less than a fifth
This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to
fractions or ratios:
Percenta
Fraction
ge
80%

four-fifths

75%

three-quarters

70%

seven in ten

65%

two-thirds

60%

three-fifths

55%

more than half

50%

half

45%

more
fifths

40%

two-fifths

35%

more than a third

30%

less than a third

25%

a quarter

20%

a fifth

15%

less than a fifth

10%

one in ten

5%

one in twenty

than

two

Practice these phrases in a quiz

If the percentages are not exact as above, then you can use qualifiers to
make sure your description remains accurate. Here are some examples:

Percentag
Qualifier
e
77%

just over three quarters

77%

approximately
quarters

49%

just under a half

49%

nearly a half

32%

almost a third

three

This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to
other phrases:

Percentage

proportion / number /
amount / majority /
minority

75% - 85%

a very large majority

65% - 75%

a significant proportion

10% - 15%

a minority

5%

a very small number

Practice these phrases in a quiz

The words above are interchageable, though number is for countable
nouns and amount is for uncountable nouns.
Follow this link to the writing pages to see another IELTS pie chart:
Sample IELTS Pie Chart
Sample Pie Chart - IELTS Task 1
This is a sample pie chart for IELTS task 1.
In this example, there are four pie charts that you have to compare.
Model Graph 8
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pie charts show the electricity generated in
Germany and France from all sources and renewables

in the year 2009.

Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

Sample Pie Chart - Model Answer

The four pie charts compare the electricity generated between Germany
and France during 2009, and it is measured in billions kWh. Overall, it can
be seen that conventional thermal was the main source of electricity in
Germany, whereas nuclear was the main source in France.
The bulk of electricity in Germany, whose total output was 560 billion
kWh, came from conventional thermal, at 59.6%. In France, the total
output was lower, at 510 billion kWh, and in contrast to Germany,

conventional thermal accounted for just 10.3%, with most electricity

coming from nuclear power (76%). In Germany, the proportion of nuclear
power generated electricity was only one fifth of the total.
Moving on to renewables, this accounted for quite similar proportions for
both countries, at approximately 15% of the total electricity generated. In
detail, in Germany, most of the renewables consisted of wind and
biomass, totaling around 75%, which was far higher than for hydroelectric
(17.7%) and solar (6.1%). The situation was very different in France,
where hydroelectric made up 80.5% of renewable electricity, with
biomass, wind and solar making up the remaining 20%.
IELTS Writing Task 1 Sample 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pie chart shows the amount of money that a
children's charity located in the USA spent and
received in one year.
Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

Revenue Sources and Expenditures of a USA Charity in one year.

Model Answer
The pie charts show the amount of revenue and expenditures over a year
of a childrens charity in the USA. Overall, it can be seen that donated
food accounted for the majority of the income, while program services
accounted for the most expenditure. Total revenue sources just exceeded
outgoings.
In detail, donated food provided most of the revenue for the charity, at
86%. With regard to expenditures, one category, program services,
accounted for nearly all of the outgoings, at 95.8%.
The other categories were much smaller. Community contributions, which
were the second largest revenue source, brought in 10.4% of overall
income, and this was followed by program revenue, at 2.2%. Investment
income, government grants, and other income were very small sources of
revenue, accounting for only 0.8% combined.
There were only two other expenditure items, fundraising and
management and general, accounting for 2.6% and 1.6% respectively. The
total amount of income was $53,561,580, which was just enough to cover
the expenditures of $53,224,896.
Model Graph 12
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pie chart shows the percentage of persons
arrested in the five years ending 1994 and the bar
chart shows the most recent reasons for arrest.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Pie and Bar Chart - Model Answer

The pie chart illustrates the percentage of males and females who were
arrested from 1989 to 1994, while the bar chart compares the main
reasons that the different genders were arrested most recently. It is
evident from the charts that males were arrested more than females and
that public drinking was the most common reason for arrest for both.
To begin, the proportion of males arrested was much greater than for
females. 32% were arrested compared to only 9% for women. Turning to

the reasons for the most recent arrests, there were some clear differences
between men and women. Men were twice as likely to be arrested for
drink driving than women, at 26% and 14% respectively. Breach of order,
assault, and other reasons were also slightly higher for men, all standing
at around 12-18%. Interestingly though, women experienced a higher
percentage of arrest rates for assault and public drinking. The figures for
assault were fairly similar at approximately 18%, whereas public drinking
represented the main reason for arrest, with women at a massive 38%,
compared to 31% for men.
A model pie chart report step by step
This lesson gives you a step-by-step approach to dealing with pie charts in
task 1. I talk you through how to identify the main points, select the
supporting details and then structure your report. I then show you two
model answers: one with standard vocabulary and then a much more
advanced version with more vocabulary and grammar you can borrow.
The task
The following pie charts show the results of a survey into the most popular
leisure activities in the United States of America in 1999 and 2009.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,
and make comparisons where relevant.

Step 1: seeing the big picture

The first step is to identify the main points of the two charts. This is not
just an important part of the task and your band score, it will also help you
write your description. The main points are normally obvious. Sometimes
they are so obvious that candidates ignore them. Look at these questions:
1. How many activities are there in each chart? Just count
2. Are the activities the same in each chart? Read the key
3. Are there any changes in popularity between the two years? Look
at the colours
You should get these answers:
1. There are 8 activities for each year
2. 7 of 8 activities are the same
3. There are a number of differences in popularity between the two
years.
All you need to do now is put that into English and you have the main
points of the report. Adding in a short description of the task we have:

These two pie charts show the changes in popularity of different leisure
activities in the United States of America between 1999 and 2009. We can
see that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both
periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity between the
various activities.
Step 2: choose the details to include
There are 16 different figures you can include. This is too many. The task
is to select and report the most important details. This will include naming
all the activities, but not all the numbers. To do this, try looking for:
1. the biggest number
2. the smallest number
These are generally important details to include. You should also consider
what changes beween the two charts, not least because the task asks you
to make comparisons. So, ask yourself:
1. whats gone up
2. whats gone down
3. what hasnt changed
4. whats new
Putting this together, we need these details:
1. walking is most popular in both periods
2. yoga disappears and weightlifting is new
3. swimming doubles
4. aerobics, jogging and cycling all fall
5. soccer and camping dont change much
Step 3: organise your report
This will vary from task to task, but typically you will be looking at two
content paragraphs. As you write your paragraphs, you want to think of
three key ideas:

highlight the main points they come first

group similar ideas together

find a logical structure to present the points

In this case, I would go with this structure:

Paragraph 1
walking is much the biggest slice of the pie in both years
weightlifting is new and yoga has gone
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and
2009 with around 30% of Americans saying that they preferred it. Also,
yoga was no longer among the preferred activities in 2009, but
weightlifting was chosen by 10% of people.
Paragraph 2
refer to the other activities in order of popularity in 2009 soccer and
swimming first, jogging and aerobics last
note the biggest changes cycling, jogging and aerobics all big fallers,
swimming the big riser.
The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both
years, a figure that was matched by swimming in 2009, having almost
doubled in popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other
activities became less popular over the same period of time, with cycling,
jogging and aerobics all falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one
exception to this trend was camping which stayed almost unchanged at
around 9%.
Step 4: get the vocabulary right
This is the big one and will take time to learn. To help you on your way, I
show you two model answers with extensive vocabulary notes. My
suggestion is start with the first one. Dont be worries that it looks too
simple. it isnt. It is in fact extremely good band score 9. The when you
have that right, take a look at the second version which has some more
advanced vocabulary.
A good version
This is the final report
These two pie charts show the changes in popularity of different leisure
activities in the United States of America between 1999 and 2009. We can
see that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both
periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity between the
various activities.
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and
2009, with around 30% of Americans saying that they preferred it. Also,

yoga was no longer among the preferred

weightlifting was chosen by 10% of people.

activities in

2009, but

The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both
years, a figure that was matched by swimming in 2009, having almost
doubled in popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other
activities became less popular over the same period of time, with cycling,
jogging and aerobics all falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one
exception to this trend was camping which stayed almost unchanged at
around 9%.
Read about the vocabulary
My band score 10 answer
The above report is exceptionally good. It covers all the right details (Task
response), has a good range of grammar with relative clauses (Range and
accuracy of grammar), is very coherent (well organised and linked) and
has some range of vocabulary, even if some words are repeated (Lexical
resource). This answer can help you by extending the range of vocabulary
you use for:

general words

dealing with numbers

linking

These two charts illustrate how the preferred leisure activities of

Americans changed between 1999 and 2009.Generally speaking, while
the list of activities remained almost identical over the decade, there were
a number of changes in their relative popularity.
It is immediately evident that walking was by some distance the
most popular pastime in both years,accounting for just under a third of
the preferences expressed. Of equal note is that by 2009, yoga had
disappeared from the list of preferred activities and had been replaced by
weightlifting, which was chosen by one in ten Americans.
Among the less popular activities, the most notable development was
that the proportion of people who went swimming doubled, making it
equal second in popularity with soccer at 18%. In stark contrast, around
as half as many Americans went cycling in 2009 as compared to ten years
earlier, with the result that it became less popular than camping, at 7%
and 9% respectively. Likewise, the number of people who went jogging
and did aerobics also dropped significantly, with less than 5%
of respondents to the survey choosing them.