IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
You describe a visual — a chart, a table, a process or a map — in at least 150 words, in about 20 minutes. You are reporting, not explaining: no reasons, no opinions, nothing from outside the page.
The structure that works for every visual
- Introduction — one sentence, the prompt rephrased. Never copied: copied words are excluded from the word count.
- Overview — two sentences on the biggest patterns, with no numbers.
- Body 1 — the first group of detail, with figures.
- Body 2 — the rest, with figures.
No conclusion is needed. The overview does that job and does it near the top, where a marker looking for it will find it.
The overview is the mark
A Task 1 answer with no overview is capped in Task Achievement regardless of how accurate the detail is. It is the one paragraph that distinguishes a report from a list of numbers, and it is the fastest improvement available to most candidates.
- Say what is largest, smallest, rising, falling, or unchanged overall.
- Keep numbers out of it — they belong in the body.
- Start it plainly: "Overall, …". The marker is looking for it; make it findable.
Do not explain the data. "Sales rose because of the advertising campaign" is outside the task, since the chart does not say why. Report what is shown.
Task 1 Academic — FAQs
2 questions
No. The overview covers it, and a separate conclusion usually repeats it.
You can, but copied words do not count towards 150 and show no lexical range. Rephrase it.
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Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.