💬 “Describing trends clearly and precisely is one of the most powerful ways to impress an examiner in Task 1.”
🔍 Why This Matters
In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, most visuals (line graphs, bar charts, tables) display trends over time or comparisons. Examiners expect you to:
- Identify the direction of change
- Use accurate verbs and adverbs
- Choose correct tenses based on the time frame
This directly affects your Task Achievement and Grammatical Range and Accuracy band scores. 🎯
📈 Types of Data Trends
| Trend Type | Description | Example Verbs & Phrases |
|---|---|---|
| 📈 Increase | Data goes up | rose, increased, climbed, grew |
| 📉 Decrease | Data goes down | dropped, fell, declined, decreased |
| 🔁 Fluctuation | Data goes up and down irregularly | fluctuated, was erratic, showed variation |
| ⬅️➡️ Stability | Data remains unchanged | remained steady, was constant, unchanged |
| ⬆️⬇️ Peak/Dip | Reached highest/lowest point | peaked at, hit a low of, bottomed out at |
🧠 Example (Line Graph): “Internet usage from 2010 to 2020”
❌ Unclear Description:
“The number of users changed a lot.”
✅ Precise Trend Description:
“Internet usage increased steadily from 40 million in 2010 to a peak of 90 million in 2018, followed by a slight decline to 85 million by 2020.”
🎯 See how we used:
- Correct verbs: increased, peaked, declined
- Clear trend direction
- Specific data values
- Past tense, as it’s in the past
📚 Grammar & Tense Check
| If the chart shows… | Use… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 📆 Past data (e.g., 2000) | Past tense | “Sales rose sharply in 2000.” |
| 🟢 Present data | Present tense | “The chart shows current figures.” |
| 🔮 Future projection | Future tense | “The rate is expected to rise.” |
💡 Writing Booster Words
Use these to sound natural and academic:
- Adverbs: significantly, gradually, slightly, sharply
- Phrases: a steady rise, a sharp fall, remained stable, saw a dip
- Comparatives: higher than, lower than, more significant, less noticeable
✍️ Micro Practice
Task: Describe this line trend accurately.
🟣 Data: “From 2015 to 2020, energy usage rose from 50 units to 90 units, then dropped to 70 units by 2022.”
✅ Sample Answer:
“Energy usage rose sharply from 50 to 90 units between 2015 and 2020, before declining moderately to 70 units by 2022.”
✅ Final Reminder
✨ “Precision in describing trends = high score in Task Achievement and Grammar. Always match your words to the actual movement in the data.”