IELTS Task 1: Tables
A table is the hardest Task 1 visual, because it does the least work for you. A bar chart shows you what is biggest; a table makes you find it. Selection is the task, and copying rows into sentences is the failure mode.
Find the shape first
- Scan for the highest and lowest figure in the whole table and mark them.
- Look along rows and down columns for the biggest difference.
- If a column is years, look for the direction of travel.
- Write the overview from what you marked — that is the shape the table did not draw for you.
What to leave out
A table with six categories and five years holds thirty numbers, and 150 words cannot carry them. Quoting eight or ten of the thirty, chosen because they support a stated pattern, scores better than listing twenty.
- Quote a figure only when it supports a comparison you have made.
- Round where it is cleaner — "just over 4,000" is fine and reads better than 4,037.
- Name the units once and do not repeat them in every clause.
Completeness in Task Achievement means the key features, not every cell. A report naming the extremes, the trend and one surprise is complete; one listing rows is not.
Tables — FAQs
2 questions
Yes, as long as the rounding is honest and you make it clear with "approximately" or "just over".
No. Group the minor ones — "the remaining categories each accounted for under 5%".
More writing question types
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.