Writing Task 1

Academic training
• The graph below shows average carbon dioxide emissions per person
in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and Portugal between 1967 and
2007.
• Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features and make comparisons where relevant. 
• Task Achievement (accurately write
about the information presented)
• Coherence and Cohesion (easy to
understand, clear and logical)
• Grammatical range and accuracy (using
the correct grammar to describe the
trends, numbers, comparisons)
• Lexical Resource ( accurate clear
vocabulary that is relevant to the task,
good paraphrasing skills)
• Model Answer 1
The graph illustrates the average output of carbon dioxide in metric tonnes for each individual in
four European countries over a forty year period.

Overall, the UK and Sweden which initially showed a high C02 output, saw a decline in emissions
toward the end of the period. In comparison, Italy and Portugal which started with relatively low
emissions, saw considerable increases by the end of the period.

In 1967, the highest proportion of carbon emissions was attributed the UK at around 11 metric
tonnes per person, however, this figure declined steadily ending at approximately 9 metric tonnes
for each individual by 2007. Swedens output started at just over 8 metric tonnes, rising to a peak of
slightly more than 10 tonnes in 1977, it then saw a sharp decline to approximately half of that by
2007.

Conversely, Portugal in 1967 had the lowest output at just over 1 tonne per person. Over the next
four decades this increased sharply, ending at over 5 metric tonnes. Italy demonstrated a similar
pattern, beginning at a little over 4 metric tonnes and ending at nearly 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide
for each person by 2007.

191 words
• The Introduction

I have paraphrased the task question which is very important in this kind of task. You can
use synonyms or you can change the grammatical structure of the sentences so that it retains the
same meaning. Paraphrasing is not just about synonyms, you can restructure the grammar, this is
a very important skill to practice.

‘The graph illustrates the average output of carbon dioxide in metric tonnes for each individual in
four European countries over a forty year period.

shows = illustrates
average carbon dioxide emissions = the average output of carbon dioxide
per person = for each individual
1967 and 2007= over a forty year period

I didn’t paraphrase the word ‘graph’because a graph is always a graph, you can’t really paraphrase
this word. I also wrote ‘in four European countries’ instead of repeating the countries names.
• The Overview

The overview is also an important feature in task 1 academic and your report
must have one. The overview should not include any numbers, statistics or
dates.Leave those details for the body paragraphs. You will need to look at the
main trends of the graph and write briefly about those. Pick out two main trends
and give a summary.

‘Overall, the UK and Sweden, which initially showed a high C02 output, saw a
decline in emissions toward the end of the period. Conversely, Italy and Portugal,
which started with relatively low emissions, witnessed considerable increases by
the end of the period.

I start with the word ‘Overall’ this is a good way to introduce the overview. I have
picked out the two main trends here which are:

The UK and Sweden = started high ended much lower.

Now we can write in more detail about the graph and the trends. Also remember to be
selective and do not write about everything in the graph. Grouping the information is very
important in this part of the task. Take the 2 main trends and separate them into 2 body
paragraphs as below

‘In 1967, the highest proportion of carbon emissions was attributed the UK at around 11
metric tonnes per person, however, this figure declined steadily ending at approximately 9
metric tonnes for each individual by 2007. Swedens output started at just over 8 metric
tonnes, rising to a peak of slightly more than 10 tonnes in 1977, it then saw a sharp decline
to approximately half of that by 2007.‘

In this body paragraph I wrote about the 2 highest C02 outputs, which are The UK and
Sweden, and described how they declined in the 40 year period. I added more detail and
numbers here, notice how I have used prepositions also (at, around, over, to, by) and most
importantly you must use the language of approximation as there a no exact figures in the
chart.
Language of approximation
In the graph, there is no figure showing in between the lines, so you will need to use
approximation for a better band score in vocabulary. It is important to notice this as
it is common in many IELTS graphs or charts.

around 11 metric tonnes…

The line graph compares the average emission of carbon dioxide per person in four countries from
1967 to 2007. 
Overall, the amount of emissions rose for Italy and Portugal, while the figures fell for the UK and
Sweden. The rate of fall was steadier and slower in the UK as compared to Sweden.
In 1967, Italy and Portugal emitted around 1 and 4 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per
person respectively (if you do not write per person, these become emissions of the whole country. This
distorts the meaning of the sentence.). The emission grew in both countries, nearly parallel to each
other before the emissions doubled for Italy and rose by five-folds for Portugal in 2007.
(The same idea can be better expressed as: The emissions per person for Portugal and Italy were about 1
and 4 metric tonnes in 1967 and these increased parallelly for both countries will 2007. During this period,
the emissions for Portugal grew by five folds and that for Italy doubled.)
On the other hand, the UK and Sweden produced a higher amount of CO2 per person at around 9 and
11 metric tonnes respectively in 1967. In the following decade, the figure for Sweden rose and peaked
to just over 10 metric tonnes in 1977, before falling to 5 metric tonnes in 2007.  The UK showed a
steady decline in CO2 emission and reduced its emission by almost 2 metric tonnes in the given period. 
• The chart illustrates how often people in the USA went to fast food
establishments from 2003 to 2013.
• Overall, people who ate in fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a
month accounted for the highest percentages, whereas people who either never
ate in these restaurants or went every day, showed the lowest figures throughout
the whole period.
• In 2003 the number of individuals who ate in fast food establishments once a
week and once or twice a month accounted for 31% and 30% respectively. For
those in the once a week group, this figure increased slightly but then dropped
to around 27% in 2013. The once or twice a month category declined to 25% then
rose to approximately 33% by 2013.
• Conversely, the figure for people who either ate at fast food eateries everyday, or
never, stood at under 5% throughout the ten year period. The several times a
week category accounted for 17% in 2003, rose in 2006, settling back to around
16% in 2013. The few times a year group rose slightly levelling off at 15% from
2006 to 2013.
• 185 words
• Paraphrasing the introduction:
• In the task question it states: ‘The chart below shows…’  this can be written
as ‘The chart illustrates…’ do not paraphrase the word ‘chart’ or ‘graph’ and
remember that not everything has to be paraphrased when writing the
introduction, yes you can keep some words, trying to change every single word
adds to your stress and may lose you marks.
• ‘The chart illustrates how often people in the USA went to fast food establishments
from 2003 to 2013.’

‘Overall, people who ate in fast food restaurants once a week and once or twice a month
accounted for the highestpercentages, whereas people who either never ate in these restaurants,
or went every day, showed the lowest percentagesthroughout the whole period.’
There are no percentages here and no details are needed. I have used the
phrase: ‘throughout the whole period’  to show the time frame. I used superlatives to show
the main features:  The highest percentages / the lowest percentages.
Notice the conjunction ‘whereas’ to show contrast between the two. Punctuation is
important also as the examiner will be looking at how it is used.
• Grouping the information in the main body
paragraphs
• It is important to write in a logical way in IELTS
academic writing task 1. Grouping the information
helps the examiner follow your points easily and
helps your overall coherence and task response
score. Be selective here and do not write about
every single piece of information, keep it concise.
• Main body one:
• In 2003 the number of individuals who ate in fast food establishments once a
week and once or twice a month accounted for 31% and 30% respectively. For
those in the once a week group, this figure increased slightly but then dropped
to around 27% in 2013. The once or twice a month category declined to 25%
then rose to approximately 33% by 2013.
• Main body two:
• Conversely, the figure for people who either ate at fast food
eateries everyday, or never, stood at under 5% throughout the ten year
period. The several times a week category accounted for 17% in 2003, rose in
2006, settling back to around 16% in 2013. The few times a year group rose
slightly levelling off at 15% from 2006 to 2013.
• Notice that I have mentioned all the categories here,  For a good task response
score you have to cover the whole task but at the same time not go overboard
with detail. Keep the word count below 200 words.
Paraphrasing statistics and fractions
• There are other ways to write about statistics such as using fractions or the language of
approximation. This will help your vocabulary score if you can vary the way you report on the
numbers.
• Note: Be careful here because these fractions below are out of 100%, in the bar graph task in this
lesson the percentages are out of 40% so this can be tricky to paraphrase.
• Paraphrasing percentages:
• Four fifths – 80%
• Three quarters – 75%
• Seven out of ten – 70%
• Just over half – 53%
• Two fifths – 40%
• Just over a third – 35%
• Just under a third – 30%
• One quarter -25%
• a fifth – 20%
• Less than a fifth – 15%
• One in ten – 10% (this is used for people or objects)
• From two fifths to less than a fifth – From 40% to 15% (for trends graphs)
• Halved (verb) – dropped by half
Advise using phrases to show approximation and proportion such as:
• Just over a fifth – around 22%
• Just under a fifth – around 18%
• Slightly less than a quarter – 23%
• More than two fifths – around 42%
• Approximately half – 48%
• Around a fifth – 19%
• A large number of – around 70%
• A large proportion of – around 70%
• A significant proportion of  – around 80%
• A small minority of – around 5 to 10%
• A small number / amount of – 5 to 10%
• An insignificant amount of – around  2%