How to Accurately Analyze Charts, Maps, and

Process Diagrams
Here are the checklist questions from the video:

Instructions:

To improve your ability to analyze Task 1 data, use the questions

below when you see a new graph, chart, map, or process diagram.
After you’re comfortable with the checklists, gradually try to use them
less and less until you can analyze the data more easily.

Graph or Chart:

1. What are the axes (x and y)?

2. What are the units of measurement? (e.g. amount, %, age, etc.)
3. Is there more than one group being compared? (e.g. 3 different
countries)
4. Does it show change over time? (this is common for graphs)
5. What are the time periods shown? (past, present, future)
6. What is the general trend? (increase, decrease, etc.)
7. Are there any large differences between groups or charts?
8. Are there any groups or charts that share similarities?
9. How can I break it into two parts?

Maps:

1. Is there more than one map being compared?

2. What are the time periods shown? (past, present, future) Are
they in different maps or the same map?
3. What are the most noticeable differences between the multiple
maps or time periods?
4. What parts of the map are the same in both maps/time periods?
5. Can the map(s) be easily broken into two parts? How?
Process Diagrams:

1. Where is the start of the process? The end?

2. How many total stages are there?
3. What kind of process is it? Is it a cycle or a linear (start to finish)
process?
4. What does each stage do? And what is its connection with the
previous stage?
5. What is the end result? Is something produced?
6. Can the process be easily broken into two parts? How?
  How To Understand & Analyse Task 1 Questions
–

There are 5 steps to writing a good essay for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1:

 Analyse the question

 Identify the main features

 Write an introduction

 Write an overview

 Write the details paragraphs

One of the biggest mistakes many students make is missing out the first step
– analysing the question.

They are so worried about getting their essay finished in the 20 minutes
allowed for the task that they get straight down to writing without fully
understanding the question. The result is an essay that fails to meet many of
the marking criteria and thus achieves a low score.

Whilst your language skills may be good enough to earn you a Band 7 or 8,
not answering the question appropriately could reduce your score to a Band 6
or even lower.

It’s not difficult to analyse and understand task 1 questions once you know
how and that’s what you’re going to learn in this lesson.

Understanding the Question

The first thing to understand is that the format of every question in IELTS
Academic Writing Task 1 is the same.
Here’s a typical question. The highlighted words are always the same no
matter what type of question you get.
The bar chart below shows numbers of seals, whales and dolphins recorded in
the Gormez Straits from 2006 to 2018.

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

Every question consists of:

 A brief description of the graphic

 The instruction

 The graphic – chart, graph, table, etc.

So, let’s analyse what you have to do. For this, we need to look at the
‘instruction’ sentence.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,
and make comparisons where relevant.

You have to do 3 things:

1.     Select the main features.

2.     Write about the main features.

3.     Compare the main features.

This is the same for every question and every type of graphic.

You’ll notice that each part of the task refers to the ‘main features’ of the
graphic. You do not have to write about everything.

A key skill you must learn is how to quickly pick out the features.

Another point to note is that you are not required to give your opinion as you
would for many Task 2 essays. This is a common mistake which will lose you
marks. Only write about what you can see in the graphic.

Identifying the Main Features

I’m now going to give you some checklists to help you to identify the main
features of the different types of IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 questions.

I go into detail on how to pick out the main features in specific questions in the
lessons on individual question types. 

Here are the 7 question types:

 Bar Chart
  Line Graph

 Table Chart

 Pie Chart

 Process Diagram

 Maps

 Multiple Graphs

Click the links for step-by-step instructions on how to write each type of essay
including a model answer. 

The various types of graphs and charts are not especially difficult to interpret.
The challenge for most students is simply that they are not used to working
with them.

Remember, IELTS is an English exam designed to test your language skills,

not your mathematics ability. No complicated calculations are required.

The graphics are just a way of presenting information using numbers and
diagrams. Your job is to convert the information into a written form. That’s all
you have to do.

Bar Charts & Line Graphs

1) What can you learn from the title?

There won’t always be a title but where there is, read it carefully as it will give
you important information about the chart or graph and the first clue as to
what it's about.

In our example above, the bar chart shows ‘Seal, Whale & Dolphin
Populations in the Gormez Straits’.
2) What information do the 2 axes give?
The chart or graph will have a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, often called
the ‘x’ and ‘y’ axes.

Each gives a different type of information. In our example, the x axis tells us
the years in which the numbers of seals, whales and dolphins were recorded,
and the y axis shows how many were recorded.

3)  What are the units of measurements?

These could be many different things, for example, amount, time, age, %. The
measurements on our example bar chart are the amount in single numbers
and time in years.

Occasionally, the units won’t be given but you will be able to work out what
they are either from the title of the chart or other information it includes.

4) What is being compared?

Usually, IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 questions asked you to to compare
two or more groups of things. They could include almost anything. In our
sample question, we are asked to compare three types of marine mammals.

Very often, you will have to compare what happens over a period of time.

5) What are the time periods?

Is the data from the past, the present or the future? Often it will be two or all
three of these. This is very important to note because it will determine what
tense or tenses you should use. 

The data in our sample bar chart is all in the past.

6) What is the most obvious trend?

You should look for any clear increases or decreases in the data. They could
be gradual or sharp changes.

7) Are there any notable similarities?

As well as noting marked increases and decreases, you also need to look out
for things that are similar or stay the same over a period of time.

You can download a PDF of all the checklists, without the explanations, on
this page: Task 1 Checklists. 

Use them as you practice writing IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 essays.
 Tables

Many students fear tables more than any other type of graphic because
they’re just sets of numerical data without any visual representation. However,
they are not as complicated as they may at first look.

The key to understanding them is to use the clues given in the title, the row
and column headings and the units of measurement.

For example, the title of the table below tells us that it shows changes in world
population from 1950 to projected levels in 2050.

Rows and columns – The world is divided into continents (Africa, Asia, etc.)
and data is given for three specific years: 1950, 2000 and projected data for
2050.

In the first table, the units of measurement is billions of people and in the
second table, percentages of the total world population are used.
All the same questions in the checklist for bar charts and line graphs are
relevant to tables except for question 2 about the x and y axes. Apart from
this, analyse the data in the same way.

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question
including a model answer:

Table Chart – Instructions & Model Answer

Pie Charts
Pies charts feature regularly in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. They always
show percentages or proportions. Apart from that, they are essentially the
same as bar charts and line graphs in that they are another way of presenting
data visually.

As with tables, the same checklist of questions can be used to analyse them,
with the exception of question 2 about the x and y axes.

Pie charts generally have titles and labels or sometimes a key instead of
segment labels as in the sample question below. The key explains what each
segment of the pie chart represents.
Source: Official website IELTS Essentials

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question
including a model answer:

Pie Chart – Instructions & Model Answer

Process Diagrams
Now we move on to a very different type of graphic – the process diagram.

Here’s a checklist of questions you can ask to help you analyse and
understand them.

1) Is it a linear or a cyclical process?

A linear process starts and finishes at different places. It will often involve the
manufacture or creation of something, with raw materials going in at one end
and the finished product coming out the other end.

A cyclical process is a process that goes back to the beginning and repeats
over and over again, such as the life cycle of a frog.

Lineal process

Cyclical process

2) Where does the process start and end?

For a lineal process, this will usually be obvious. It may be harder to
determine for a cyclical process so it’s important that you examine the graphic
carefully to find out.

3) How many steps are there to the process?

If there are a lot, it can be helpful to number them from 1 to whatever number
the final stage is.

4) Can the process be easily broken down into stages?

In the brick-making graphic, for example, there are three stages:

a) Creating the bricks from clay

b) Manufacturing the finished product by drying and firing

c) Packaging and delivery

In the life cycle graphic, there are also three distinct stages where the frog is
at different stages of development – egg, juvenile, adult.

5) What are the raw materials? What is produced at the end of the
process?
These questions obviously apply only to manufacturing processes.

For other types of process, it might be more appropriate to ask the following
question.

6) What is the end result of the process?

The graphic below shows a different type of process, more of a system, and
this question would certainly be helpful to ask here. The end result is the
production of electricity.

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question
including a model answer:

Process Diagram – Instructions & Model Answer

Maps
For IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 questions about maps, you will normally
be asked to compare two or three maps of a place over a period of time as in
this question.

The maps could be from the past or the present. Occasionally you’ll get a map
of a proposed development in the future.
Map questions are some of the easiest to answer because the information is
very clear, it doesn’t involve numbers and it needs little interpretation.
However, I have a short checklist of questions you can ask to help you
analyse and understand them.

1) What time periods are shown?

Is the data shown from the past, the present or the future? This is important to
note because it will determine whether you should write in the past, present or
future tense.

The two maps below show the village of Stokeford at two different times in the
past.

2) What are the main differences between the maps?

What features have disappeared? What new features are in their place?

3) What features have remained the same over the time period?
Although the location on the maps will have undergone major development,
some features will probably remain unchanged.
Source: IELTS past paper

Click this link for step-by-step instructions on how to answer this question
including a model answer:

Maps Essay – Instructions & Model Answer

Here’s the link to the checklists again: Task 1 Checklists

The next step to writing a high-scoring essay for IELTS Academic Writing
Task 1 is to learn how to plan your essay using an easy to remember 4 part
structure. You’ll find the lesson here: How To Plan a Task 1 Essay

How to Describe a Graph

On the following pages there are lessons to teach you how to write an academic IELTS
writing task 1.

There are examples of all the different types of task which include line graphs, pie
charts, tables, processes, diagrams and maps.
Answers will always vary depending on the type of graph or diagram, and the type of
language will vary, but there is a certain structure that they all follow.

First, on this page, you’ll get an overview of how to answer a task 1.

Once you have studied the general structure, you can view other examples by looking
at the model graphs that are on this site. 

Alternatively, follow on with these lessons to a variety of strategies and tips to achieve
the writing score you need.

How do I answer an IELTS writing task 1?

To analyse this, we’ll look at a line graph. Look at the following question and the graph.

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.

 IELTS
Academic Writing Task 1
31Guardar

There are three basic things you need to structure an IELTS writing task 1.

1. Introduce the graph

2. Give an overview
3. Give the detail
We’ll look at each of these in turn.

1) Introduce the Graph

You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the IELTS writing task 1
shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the graph, making sure you put in a time frame
if there is one.

Here is an example for the above line graph:

The line graph compares the fast food consumption of teenagers in Australia between
1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years.

You can see this says the same thing as the title, but in a different way.

2) Give an Overview
You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph are. Don’t give detail
such as data here – you are just looking for something that describes what is happening
overall.
One thing that stands out in this graph is that one type of fast food fell over the period,
whilst the other two increased, so this would be a good overview.

Here is an example:

Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas the amount
of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.

This covers the main changes that took place over the whole period.

You may sometimes see this overview as a conclusion. It does not matter if you put it in
the conclusion or the introduction when you do an IELTS writing task 1, but you should
provide an overview in one of these places.

3) Give the Detail

You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs.

When you give the detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS writing task 1, you
must make reference to the data.

The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing task 1 is to group
data together where there are patterns.

To do this you need to identify any similarities and differences.

Look at the graph – what things are similar and what things are different?

As we have already identified in the overview, the consumption of fish and chips
declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten
increased.

So it is clear that pizza and hamburgers were following a similar pattern, but fish and
chips were different. On this basis, you can use these as your ‘groups’, and focus one
paragraph on fish and chip and the other one on pizza and hamburgers.

Here is an example of the first paragraph:

In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and chips, being
eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than Pizza and hamburgers, which were
consumed approximately 5 times a year. However, apart from a brief rise again from 1980
to 1985, the consumption of fish and chips gradually declined over the 25 year timescale
to finish at just under 40.
As you can see, the focus is on fish and chips. This does not mean you should not
mention the other two foods, as you should still make comparisons of the data as the
questions asks.

The second body then focuses on the other foods:

In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much higher levels.
Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the consumption of fish and
chips in 1990. It then levelled off from 1995 to 2000. The biggest rise was seen in
hamburgers as the occasions they were eaten increased sharply throughout the 1970’s
and 1980’s, exceeding that of fish and chips in 1985. It finished at the same level that fish
and chips began, with consumption at 100 times a year.

Full Model Answer:

The line graph compares the fast food consumption of teenagers in Australia between
1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years. Overall, the consumption of fish and chips
declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten
increased.
In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and chips, being
eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than Pizza and hamburgers, which were
consumed approximately 5 times a year. However, apart from a brief rise again from
1980 to 1985, the consumption of fish and chips gradually declined over the 25 year
timescale to finish at just under 40.

In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much higher levels.
Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the consumption of fish and
chips in 1990. It then levelled off from 1995 to 2000. The biggest rise was seen in
hamburgers as the occasions they were eaten increased sharply throughout the 1970’s
and 1980’s, exceeding that of fish and chips in 1985. It finished at the same level that
fish and chips began, with consumption at 100 times a year.

(194 words)

Here you will find IELTS Writing Task 1 Samples for a variety

of common tasks that appear in the writing exam.
The model answers all have tips and strategies for how you
may approach the question and comments on the sample
answer.
It's a great way to help you to prepare for the test. 

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