IELTS Writing Task 1 – Table and Pie Chart
Two visuals in one question can look scary. Learn to read them together, write one overview that covers both, and give each visual its own body paragraph. Then try the practice task below.
Key points
Chapters in this video (17)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:32Lesson Overview
- 0:52Example Task Question
- 1:25Analyzing the Visuals
- 1:38Understanding the Table
- 2:10Understanding the Pie Chart
- 2:37Finding Trends and Patterns
- 2:47Analyzing the Table for Patterns
- 4:08Analyzing the Pie Chart
- 4:52Reviewing All Trends
- 5:47Band 9 Structure Overview
- 6:11Writing the Introduction
- 8:54Writing the Overview
- 11:11First Body Paragraph (pie chart distribution)
- 13:06Second Body Paragraph (age-related trends)
- 15:31Complete Essay Review
- 16:02Key Takeaways
Useful language for two visuals
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The table gives details of …, while the pie chart shows … | introduce two visuals in one sentence | The table gives details of e-bike sales, while the pie chart shows why people bought one. |
| Turning to the pie chart, … | move from one visual to the other | Turning to the pie chart, saving money was the most common reason. |
| conversely / by contrast | show the opposite | Most buyers wanted to save money. By contrast, only 15% mentioned the environment. |
| by far the most / the highest figure | much bigger than all the others | People aged 25 to 44 bought by far the most bikes. |
| almost tripled / rose eightfold | became nearly 3 times / 8 times bigger | Sales rose eightfold, from 300 to 2,400. |
| just over a third / the remaining 7% | talk about parts of a pie | The remaining 7% gave other reasons. |
Practice task: Electric bicycles
The table below shows the number of electric bicycles bought by four age groups in one city in 2019, 2021 and 2024. The pie chart shows the main reasons buyers gave for choosing an electric bicycle in 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
| Age group | 2019 | 2021 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.1 |
| 25–44 | 2.5 | 4.8 | 8.6 |
| 45–64 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
| 65 and over | 0.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 |
| Total | 5.0 | 9.3 | 17.0 |
Overview: one main feature of the table and one of the pie chart.
Table: which group bought the most? Which group grew the fastest?
The table is in thousands: 2.5 thousand = 2,500.
Show model answer (try first!)
The table gives details of how many electric bicycles were bought by four age groups in one city in 2019, 2021 and 2024, while the pie chart shows why people chose to buy one in 2024.
Overall, sales increased in every age group, and people aged 25 to 44 bought by far the most e-bikes in all three years. As for the reasons, saving money was the most common, while protecting the environment was mentioned by relatively few buyers.
In 2019, people aged 25 to 44 bought 2,500 electric bicycles, which was half of all sales. This figure rose sharply to 8,600 by 2024. The other age groups bought fewer bikes, but all of them saw strong growth. Sales to under-25s increased from 1,200 to 3,100, and those to 45- to 64-year-olds almost tripled, from 1,000 to 2,900. The most dramatic change was among people aged 65 and over, whose purchases rose eightfold from just 300 to 2,400.
Turning to the pie chart, just over a third of buyers (34%) said that they chose an e-bike to save money. The second most common reason was speed in traffic, at 26%, followed by health at 18%. Only 15% of people mentioned the environment, and the remaining 7% gave other reasons.
209 words
This practice task and its model answer were written for the website. The video teaches the method with its own example (monthly spending by age group), which is not reproduced here.
Keep going
