Write your own answer first20 minutes and at least 150 words, like the real test. Use the editor below, then compare with the Band 8 model answer.
Pie charts show proportions of a whole, often two or three pies comparing different years or places. The key skill is describing percentages in different ways (almost a third, the largest share, a tenth) and, when there are two years, comparing how the proportions changed. Here is the structure, a practice question, a Band 8 model answer and the language you need.
How Task 1 is marked#
You have 20 minutes and must write at least 150 words. Task 1 is worth one third of your Writing score, and is marked on four criteria: Task Achievement (an accurate overview and key features), Coherence and Cohesion (logical grouping and linking), Lexical Resource (precise vocabulary) and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
The 4-paragraph structure for a pie chart#
| Paragraph | What to write | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | Paraphrase the question in one sentence: what, where, when. | 1 sentence |
| 2. Overview | The 2–3 most important features, with no numbers. | 2 sentences |
| 3. Body 1 | The first group of details, with figures and comparisons. | 3–4 sentences |
| 4. Body 2 | The second group of details. | 3–4 sentences |
How to describe a pie chart#
- Find the biggest slice in each pie and whether it changed. That is usually the heart of your overview.
- With two years, compare categories across pies, not pie by pie only. “Housing rose from 24% to 36%” is the comparison the examiner wants.
- Use fractions and words, not only percentages: 32% = almost a third, 10% = a tenth, 52% = just over half.
- Remember the pies show shares, not amounts. Write “the proportion spent on food fell”, not “people spent less money on food”.
Practice question#
The pie charts below show how households in Westland spent their income in 1990 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
1990
2020
- Housing
- Food
- Transport
- Leisure
- Other
Show the data as a table
| Category | 1990 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 24% | 36% |
| Food | 32% | 18% |
| Transport | 14% | 17% |
| Leisure | 10% | 15% |
| Other | 20% | 14% |
The figures are invented for practice, like real IELTS Task 1 questions.
Essay practice editor
Model answer (Band 8 style)
Write your own answer first, then compare structure and vocabulary. Task 1 (Academic): pie charts · 158 words.
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The pie charts compare the proportion of income that households in Westland spent on five categories in 1990 and 2020.
Overall, housing replaced food as the largest area of spending, and the shares spent on transport and leisure grew, while food and other expenses accounted for a smaller proportion of the budget in 2020.
In 1990, food was the biggest expense, representing almost a third of household spending (32%). Housing came second at 24%, followed by other items (20%) and transport (14%), while leisure made up just a tenth of the total.
By 2020, the picture had changed considerably. The share of income spent on housing had risen by half, to 36%, making it by far the largest category. Conversely, the proportion spent on food had fallen to 18%, almost half its 1990 level. Spending on leisure and transport both increased, to 15% and 17% respectively, while the share devoted to other items declined from 20% to 14%.
Compares across years
Each category is followed from 1990 to 2020 instead of describing the two pies separately.
Proportion language
*almost a third*, *a tenth*, *risen by half*, *the share devoted to*, *respectively*.
Past perfect for the comparison
“By 2020, the picture had changed… had risen… had fallen” shows grammatical range naturally.
Shares, not amounts
The answer never claims households spent more or less money, only a larger or smaller proportion.
Want your own writing scored? With Worddemy Pro, paste it into the app and get a band score with feedback on all four criteria.
Useful language for pie charts#
| Purpose | Words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Proportions as fractions | a quarter (25%) · almost a third (32%) · just over half (52%) · a tenth (10%) · the vast majority (85%+) |
| Talk about shares | accounted for · made up · represented · comprised · the share / proportion / percentage of… |
| Largest and smallest | the largest share · the biggest slice · the smallest proportion · the least significant |
| Change between pies | rose from… to… · doubled · halved · increased by half · declined to |
| Linking two figures | respectively · followed by · compared with · whereas |
Common mistakes#
- Describing pie 1 completely, then pie 2 completely, with no comparison.
- Repeating “percent” in every sentence. Use share, proportion, fractions and accounted for.
- Confusing percent and percentage: “a high percentage”, “36 per cent” (or 36%).
- Saying the amount of money changed. A smaller share can still be more money if income grew.
More Task 1 guides#
Each guide has a practice question, a 20-minute editor and a Band 8 model answer:
New to Task 1? Start with the complete IELTS Writing Task 1 guide, and learn how to describe trends and choose the right tense.