Describing trends and changesgreat being able to identify the most important data in T1, but you need

suitable language to describe this

information. This lesson will provide you with the precise language you need.

In Writing Task 1 of the IELTS Academic exam, you will be presented with a pie chart, a bar
chart, a line graph or some other pictorial representation. Regardless of which question comes
up, you will need a variety of language to describe main trends or changes accurately. This
lesson contains some useful language for more accurate descriptions of trends.
.
Let’s start by looking at some examples of what IELTS candidates often want to say in a task 1
response:
• ‘X’ is up (2009 to 2010)
• ‘X’ is down (2008 to 2009)
• ‘X’ is up and down (between 2006 and 2009)
• There is no change in ‘X’ (between 2006 and 2007)
• ‘X’ reached the top (2010)

It is difficult to describe a graph or chart accurately without a wide range of vocabulary and
grammatical structures because:
• words like ‘up’, ‘down’ and ‘change’ don’t give a precise enough picture of the changes that
are occurring
• You must avoid repeating the same words
• focus on changing the form of the word between a noun and a verb
• use adjectives and adverbs to add more precise meaning
Adjectives and adverbs are effective when describing the degree of change and the speed of
change. See the sample graph below to see how they add detail and value to the trend you are
describing.
Using the correct prepositions
In addition to using the right verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs, you need to be careful with
choosing the correct preposition. Prepositions like ‘in’, ‘of’ or ‘from’ cause great difficulty for
many test takers as there are no simple set of rules to follow. Here are some of the more
common prepositions used in a task 1 writing response.
Verb + preposition
rose to 5% (it has moved up to 5%)
rose by 5% (if it was 7 percent before, now it is 12%)
rose from 7 percent to 12 percent (a total increase of 5%)
Noun + preposition
A rise in population
a rise of 5% (it has moved up 5%)
reached a peak of 20% (highest point was 20%)
In order to describe the data accurately, you will need to provide the time period when the
particular trend took place. Make sure you use the correct prepositions as different points in
time are attached to a specific preposition:
In August / Winter / 2008
On Wednesdays
From August to November / From Summer to Winter / From 2008 to 2010
During Summer / Winter / 2008
During the first/latter half of Summer / Winter / 2008
At the start/end of summer / winter / 2008

To boost your score in ‘Coherence and Cohesion’, begin your new main body paragraph by
somehow connecting it to the previous paragraph. You could use one of the following sentence
starters:
when continuing on from the same year that you finished speaking about in the previous
paragraph
• Over the next…
• For the following two months…
when the data described in the new paragraph is different to that in the previous one
• In comparison to…..
• Compared with…..
• Relative to….
• We can contrast this with….
To be used when the data described in the new paragraph is similar to that in the previous
paragraph:
• A similar trend can be seen in X…..

Here are some extra tips to consider when describing trends in graphs or charts:
• You don’t always have to give the exact figure from the graph. A great way to impress your
examiner is by using terms like, tripled, (nearly) doubled, (approximately)one-fourth, three
quarters, half, treble, (almost) 5 times higher, 3 timers lower. It may require a bit more thinking
but it is definitely demonstrating a good understanding of English.
• Use ‘percent’ after a number (e.g. 20 percent)
• Use ‘percentage’ after words like the, a, this and that (e.g. the percentage of children)
• Write numbers one to ten in words. Write numbers over 10 in numerals (e.g. five percent and
60%)