How to describe a process.

IELTS Process - Tea Production

You should spend about 20 minutes on this
task.
The diagram shows how tea leaves are
processed into five tea types.
Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.
IELTS process writing sample answer
The diagram presents the manufacture of five
different types of tea. It is immediately apparent
that although all forms of the tea are produced
from the same leaf, the differences in the
manufacturing process result in five different
types of tea.
The first three stages of manufacture are the
same for all of the five teas. The leaves are grown,
they are then plucked, and following this
withering of the leaves occures. The final stage is
also the same, which sees all the leaves dried in
an oven. However, in the stages in between this,
differing methods of production are employed.
To begin, white tea is unique as it involves no
other processing. In contrast, green, oolong and
large leaf black tea are all rolled as part of the
process. However, while green tea is steamed
before being rolled but is not fermented, the
other two teas are first rolled and then both
fermented (oolong only slightly but large leaf
black completely). Finally, small leaf black tea is
neither steamed nor rolled, but is crushed before
being fully fermented.
The picture illustrates how pencils are made in the
production. Overall, it can be seen that the process is
divided into two parallel stages. While pencil leads and
pencil cases are made separately, they are assembled
together to finish product.
First of all, pencil leads which contain ground graphite,
clay and water are made into dough. Afterwards, these
are placed into a forming press to produce a graphite
rod. Next, the pieces of lead are dried and heated with
800 degrees of centigrade in an oven. They are then
sent to the production process of the case.
On the other hand, pencil cases from wood are cut.
After that, grooves cut in wooden slat and the lead
pieces are placed there. Another new slat is put on the
top to sandwich when the glue is still wet. In the last
stage, a shaping machine then creates smooth finish,
and the pencil is ready to use.
IELTS Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The diagram illustrates the process that is used to manufacture
bricks for the building industry.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main
features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

The Brick Manufacturing Process

IELTS Process Model Answer

The diagram explains the way in which bricks

are made for the building industry. Overall,
there are seven stages in the process,
beginning with the digging up of clay and
culminating in delivery.
To begin, the clay used to make the bricks is
dug up from the ground by a large digger. This
clay is then placed onto a metal grid, which is
used to break up the clay into smaller pieces.
A roller assists in this process.
Following this, sand and water are added to
the clay, and this mixture is turned into bricks
by either placing it into a mould or using a
wire cutter. Next, these bricks are placed in
an oven to dry for 24 – 48 hours.
In the subsequent stage, the bricks go
through a heating and cooling process. They
are heated in a kiln at a moderate and then a
high temperature (ranging from 200c to
1300c), followed by a cooling process in a
chamber for 2 – 3 days. Finally, the bricks are
packed and delivered to their destinations.
Words 173
The diagram below shows the typical stages of consumer goods
manufacturing, including the process by which information is fed back to
earlier stages to enable adjustment.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the process shown.

» You should write at least 150 words.

» You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Sample Answer 1:

The provided flowchart illustrates the process

of consumer goods production in an orderly
manner and includes various stages of
production and sales together with the
feedback supplied towards the earlier stages
which allows improvements and
modifications throughout the process.
The product manufacturing process is
initiated with the purchase of raw materials
and manufactured components which are
kept in storage until the production process is
planned. Production planning stage involves
product research and design. The process is
carried through the stages of assembly,
inspection, testing and packaging of the final
product sequentially which is then dispatched
for sales to the consumers.
Production planning provides feedback for
storage. Likewise, sales provide feedback for
both production planning and market
research, which in turn provides feedback for
advertising and packaging. Similarly, both
market research and testing provide feedback
for design.
In summary, this flowchart illustrates the
production process and the feedback
provided at various stages of goods
manufacturing.
(Approximately 152 words | Written by Sami Satti)
IELTS Writing Task 1: flow chart essay

The chart below shows the process of waste

paper recycling.

The flow chart shows how waste paper is recycled. It is clear that
there are six distinct stages in this process, from the initial collection
of waste paper to the eventual production of usable paper.
At the first stage in the paper recycling process, waste paper is
collected either from paper banks, where members of the public
leave their used paper, or directly from businesses. This paper is then
sorted by hand and separated according to its grade, with any paper
that is not suitable for recycling being removed. Next, the graded
paper is transported to a paper mill.
Stages four and five of the process both involve cleaning. The paper
is cleaned and pulped, and foreign objects such as staples are taken
out. Following this, all remnants of ink and glue are removed from
the paper at the de-inking stage. Finally, the pulp can be processed in
a paper making machine, which makes the end product: usable
paper.
In summary, the process of making usable paper comprises six levels
that should be carried one after another from collecting to paper
machine.
(160 words, band 9)
The table below shows the sales at a small restaurant in a downtown
business district.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons where relevant.

» You should write at least 150 words.

Sales: week of October 7-13

Sun. Sat. Fri. Thus. Wed. Tues. Mon.

$1,550 $1,950 $2,500 $2,375 $2,595 $2,450 $2,400 Lunch

$2,450 $2,900 $4,350 $3,800 $3,445 $3,850 $3,623 Dinner

Sample Answer 1:

The provided table represents information on sales of a downtown

small restaurant of a typical October week starting from the 7th
October till 13th October. As is presented, the restaurant's earning
from dinner is much more than the earning from lunch except for the
weekend, Sunday.
On Monday, the beginning of the week, the restaurant sells lunch of
24 hundred dollars compared to the sales of dinner of 3623 dollars.
The sales of dinner compared to lunch is significantly higher than the
sell of lunch for the six days of the mentioned week except for the
Sunday. The sale of lunch on Tuesday remains almost same as it was
on Monday but the dinner sell increased by almost 200 dollars. The
earning from the dinner is lowest on Saturday and it is less than 3000
dollar. In the weekend the lunches bring an amount of 1550 dollar
compared to 2450 dollar dinner.
The restaurant earns about 15 thousand dollars a week by selling the
lunch and on the contrary earns about 22 thousand dollars by selling
dinner.
The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Underground Railways Systems

Passengers per year Kilometres of route Date opened City

(in millions)

775 394 1863 London

1191 199 1900 Paris

1927 155 1927 Tokyo

144 126 1976 Washington DC

45 11 1981 Kyoto

50 28 2001 Los Angeles

Model Answer 1:
The table provided gives information on the underground railway systems in
terms of the routes covered, passengers travelling annually and the year the
railway system was initiated. The indicated information in the table is for six
cities.
As per the table, the oldest underground railway service provider is in London
and also covers the longest rail routes (1863 and 394 km of routes). On the
other hand, Los Angeles is the latest as it opened in 2001 and covers the
second least railway route of 28 km.
Furthermore, Tokyo railway service initiated in 1927 but consists the largest
number of travelers (1927 passengers) among all other six cities, while It is
Kyoto that consists of the least number of travelers (45 passengers).
Overall, two of the oldest systems are London and Paris but it is Paris and
Tokyo that has a large number of passengers travelling annually; meanwhile, it
is London that has the largest route travelled (394 km).
Pie Chart and Bar Chart for IELTS Writing Task 1
It is possible to be given two charts together in IELTS writing task 1. Below
you will see two pie charts followed by a bar chart. This exercise will focus
on how to structure your report and how to highlight the key features of
both charts in one overview.
The charts below show the males and females arrested over 5 years and
the reasons for the most recent arrests.

Two Charts: Structure and Overview

Answer the questions below in order to decide your paragraphing for
your task 1 report.
1. Will you put the introduction separately?
2. Will you have an overview or conclusion?
3. How many body paragraphs will you have?
4. What order will you put your paragraphs in?
5. Will your body paragraphs be equal lengths?
Answers
1. Yes, the introduction should go in a separate paragraph.
2. You must have an overview not a conclusion. The overview can go
after the introduction.
3. You should have 4 paragraphs in total.
4. You should have an introduction, an overview, one body paragraph
for the pie chart detail and one body paragraph for the bar chart
detail.
5. The body paragraph with pie chart detail will be shorter than the
body paragraph with details about the bar chart
This model answer is for an IELTS Pie and Bar
Chart combined.
Model Graph
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, theft, and other reasons were also
slightly higher for men, with all these offences
standing in the range of 12-18% for both
sexes. 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. In a small percentage of cases, no
answer was given.
(198 Words)
Describing an IELTS table is similar to describing charts or graphs. The same structures
of comparison and contrast are used or language of change if the table is over time.

A table is just another way to present information.

It does not require that you learn a new type of language or a new way to organize things.

For example, take a look at this table showing the quality of life in four countries presented in a
table:

Infant mortality Life expectancy at Daily calorie GNP per head Country
(per 1000 live birth (years) supply per head (1982: US dollars)
births

132 40 1877 140 Bangladesh

124 50 2086 570 Bolivia
97 56 2950 690 Egypt
87 49 2296 580 Indonesia
12 74 3653 13160 USA

If we wanted, we could present this same information as a bar chart:

However, as you'll notice, it is better presented as a table because of the huge difference between
the USA and the others - this is not very clear on a bar chart.

So a table looks better, but they would both be described in exactly the same way.

Analysing the IELTS Table

As with all graphs and charts, when describing tables:

 Do not describe all the data presented - present the main points of each feature (you should
make sure you mention each feature though)

 Look for significant data; e.g. the highest, the lowest etc

 Try and group the data. This may require you to use some general knowledge about the
world, such as recognising developed and developing countries

Practice

Look at the IELTS table that you looked at above and answer the questions that follow:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The following table gives statistics showing the aspects of quality of life in five countries.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Table: The Quality of Life in Four Countries

Infant mortality Life expectancy at Daily calorie GNP per head Country
(per 1000 live birth (years) supply per head (1982: US dollars)
births

132 40 1877 140 Bangladesh

124 50 2086 570 Bolivia
97 56 2950 690 Egypt
87 49 2296 580 Indonesia
12 74 3653 13160 USA

 What is the table measuring?

 What type of language do you need to use (Change? Comparing and contrasing?)

 What tense would you use?

 Which country has the best quality of life and which has the worst?

 What information could you use for an overview / conclusion?

 How could you group the information?

 How many paragraphs would you have and what you would write about in each one?

Making a Plan

You should always ask yourself these kind of questions before you write your task one. You can then
use the answer to these questions to make yourself a quick plan.

Here are some notes made by a student during the planning stage:

PLAN

Topic – standard of living, 5 countries

Language – comparison

Time / tense – 1982 = past

Overview – USA far higher

Groups –

USA = highest
Egypt, Indo, Bol = similar
Bangladesh = very low
Now, take a look at this IELTS table model answer and notice how the organization matches the
plan. The groups chosen that are similar are grouped together into paragraphs.

The language is focused on the language of comparison and contrast as the table is not over time.
The compare and contrast structures have been highlighted so you can see how they are used.

Is it similar to the way you would have organized the information?

Model Answer

Infant mortality Life expectancy at Daily calorie GNP per head Country
(per 1000 live birth (years) supply per head (1982: US dollars)
births

132 40 1877 140 Bangladesh

124 50 2086 570 Bolivia
97 56 2950 690 Egypt
87 49 2296 580 Indonesia
12 74 3653 13160 USA

The table uses four economic indicators to show the standard of living in five selected countries in
1982. Overall, it can be seen that the quality of life in the USA was far higher than the other four
countries.

To begin, the USA, which is a developed country, had the highestGNP at 13,160 dollars per head. It
also had a much higher daily calorie intake and life expectancy, and the lowest rate of infant
mortality.

The other developing countries had quality of life ratings that were significantly lower. The range of
indicators for Egypt, Indonesia and Bolivia were similar, with Egypt having the highest quality of life
amongst the three. However, the infant mortality rate in Egypt’s was slightly higher
than Indonesia’s at 97 deaths per 1000 compared to78 in Indonesia.

Bangladesh had by far the lowest quality of life in all the indicators. Its GNP was one hundred times
smaller than the USA’s. Its calorie intake and life expectancy were about half those of the USA, and
its infant mortality rate was 10 times greater.

Words 178
Paragraph 1
Introductory statement – explain what you are going to compare.

Paragraph 2
Comparison – Describe and compare the data groups and any exceptions you can see.

Summary sentence
An overall sentence that ties everything together and talks about anything significant from
paragraphs 1 and 2.

Let’s see how it looks compared to a model answer.

Model Answer

This table compares the UK’s 55-year projected growth of the number of people over the age of 75
with that of the total population. – Paragraph 1

It is estimated that in the 20 years from 2015, the total population of the UK will grow by almost 10
million, from 64.8 million in 2015 to 73.2 million in 2035. The number of over 75’s will also increase
significantly, from 5.4 million (2015) to 8.9 million (2035), which is an increase of nearly 4%. The
estimated figures for 2050 and 2070 indicate that this trend will continue, and the total population
will be as high as 82 million by 2070. -Although the number of people aged 75 or older will remain
relatively stable between 2035 (8.9 million) and 2050 (9 million), the number will continue to swell
and by 2070 nearly 15% of the population (11 – 12 million) will be aged 75 or older. – Paragraph 2

Overall, we can expect the number of people aged over 75 to double by 2070
The line graph below shows the number of annual visits to Australia by overseas residents. The table
below gives information on the country of origin where the visitors came from.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information given.

» You should write at least 150 words.

Number of Visitors (million)

2005 1975

9.1 2.9 SOUTH KOREA

12.0 3.2 JAPAN
0.8 0.3 CHINA
1.1 0.4 USA
2.9 0.9 BRITAIN
4.5 1.1 EUROPE

30.4 8.8 Total

Model Answer 1:
This line graph presents the number of visits to Australia by foreign citizens per year while the table
specifies the visits per country that took place in the year 1975 and 2005. There has been a gradual
increase from 1975 to 1985 while the number doubled from 1984 to 1995 as seen on the chart.
However, compared to 1975, in 2005 the number of foreign visitors has increased drastically (Total
8.8 in 1975; 30.4 in 2005).

Furthermore, an interesting fact is that among the six countries given, South Korea and Japan had
the most number of foreign visitors to Australia in 2005 compared to 1975 (South Korea: 2.9 in 1975
and 9.1 in 2005; Japan: 3.2 in 1975 and 12.0 in 2005). Meanwhile, China having had 0.3 million
people visiting Australia in 1975 but 0.8 million in 2005 which is quite less in terms of changes that
took place over the years compared to other countries over the past years.

Overall, compared to 1975 the number of foreign visitors has been increasing, reaching quite a high
number of visitors of 32 million to Australia, while having a majority of visitors from South Korea and
Japan. On the other hand, the least number of travels was from China but it is safe to say that the
majority of the visits that took place to Australia were from Asian countries than Western countries.

[Written by - Menu Anju ]

The first chart below shows the results of a survey which sampled a cross-section of 100,000 people
asking if they traveled abroad and why they traveled for the period 1994-98. The second chart shows
their destinations over the same period.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below.

»You should write not less than 150 words.

VISITS ABROAD BY UK RESIDENTS BY PURPOSE OF VISIT (1994-98)

1998 1997 1996 1995 1994

20,700 19,703 17,896 14,898 15,246 Holiday

3,957 3,639 3,249 3,188 3,155 Business

3,181 3,051 2,774 2,628 2,689 Visits to friends & relatives

990 1,054 1,030 896 982 Other reasons

28,828 27,447 24,949 21,610 22,072 TOTAL

Model Answer 1:
The given table compares the figures of a research on why 100 thousand of the UK residents visited
overseas from 1994 to 1998, and the given bar chart illustrates which countries they travelled during
this time.

As a whole, the majority of the UK citizens travelled abroad for entertainment, and Western Europe
was their most favourable destination. By looking at the table, it can be seen that generally there
was a growing tendency for the UK people to travel into other countries from 1994 to 1998. During
the second year, in 1995, the total number of travellers marginally declined from just over 22000 to
nearly 21500; however, it steadily grew and reached the peak of approximately 29000 in the year
1998.

These people gradually became more interested in traveling to all three regions during this period,
but Western Europe was the best option. In 1994, just below 20,000 of the UK citizens went into
Western Europe, compared with only almost 1000 into the North America. Furthermore, after a
small drop in 1995, the population of Western Europe visitors remarkably increased and reached the
maximum of above 24000 in 1998, which was far more significant than the other two locations.

In conclusion, the most proportion of the UK citizens had a trip to Western Europe to spend their
holidays and for business trips.

[ Written by - Rambod ]