How to write an Academic IELTS Task 1
This is arguably the most difficult part of the Academic exam and it is also where a lot of candidates lose marks. They lose marks because they miss a few key things.
1) The overview. The overview is where you highlight the TWO main features of the data that you are presented with. There are always two. The overview is also in the marking criteria and if you don’t include one, you are capping your Task Achievement score at Band 5. The overview is mentioned in Band 6 for Task Achievement and says that an overview is presented. In Band 7.0, you need to present a clear overview of the main trends.
2) You need to divide the data into 2 paragraphs. There is always a logical way to divide the data into two parts, always. It may be the year(s), there may be a clear difference in trend (upward to downward) or it may be the amount (small to large), for example.
3) If there are 5 categories in a bar chart, mention them all! So many candidates have their Task Achievement capped at Band 4 because they mis key data. Don’t be one of them.
4) Paraphrase and use pronouns. There is nothing more boring than reading someone’s writing when they cannot paraphrase or use pronouns. If the data is about shopping then see how many times you have used the word shopping.
5) In total, you will write 3 paragraphs 90% of the time. In paragraph 1, you introduce the data (paraphrase) and add your overview. In paragraphs 2 and 3, you focus on the data.
6) Don’t add any opinions or opinionated language. So, things like predictions, speculations, opinions etc are to be avoided. “I think…..” has no place in Task 1; save it for Task 2.
And finally, the most important point of all. Get an IELTS examiner to check your Task 1. English teachers can’t help you here as they don’t know what you have to do; only IELTS examiners can do this. You can do an IELTS Task 1 here and have it evaluated by an IELTS examiner. They will tell you what score you will get and what you need to do to get at least 0.5 higher overall. This is the kind of feedback you can use.
Comments (4)
I give soon ielts academic test i have just problem in writing if you show me the easiest way .
Hello Zabihullah. If writing is the problem then it is a good idea that one of the examiners evaluates your work so you know what you need to work on. We really recommend that you do a full writing exam. If you make the payment here https://upmyielts.com/product/full-ielts-writing-exam/ then we can send you an Academic test to do. How close is your exam? The last thing we want is for you to have to do the exam again because of your writing.
What is the difference between format in Task achievement and paragraphing in Coherence and cohesion parameter?
What is the difference between Task Achievement and Task Response?
Hello again.
There is no difference between Task Achievement and Task Response. In the IELTS criteria, Task Achievement is the only think that is mentioned in IELTS writing, however, some refer to Task Achievement in Task 1 as Task Response. Don’t worry about it though as they are the same thing.
As for your question about format and paragraphing, they are different things. ‘format’ in Task 1 is following letter writing structure, for example, with the correct opening and closing phrases. Paragraphing is, well, using paragraphs correctly. It is surprising the number of people who fail to do this properly and write one very long paragraph, and one very short one, or they write a sentence, and then move on to write a paragraph. These are examples of poor paragraphing.
We hope this answers your questions
The upmyielts team