🟠 IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Pie Chart Writing Strategy and Sample

Pie charts are a common visual in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, often used to show percentages or proportions of a whole. These questions test your ability to identify key trends, make comparisons, and describe data logically. In some tasks, you may have two pie charts for different years, requiring comparisons over time.

📌 What You’ll Learn

• ✅ How to structure your report for pie chart tasks
• ✅ Essential vocabulary to describe proportions
• ✅ A strong, full-length sample report
• ✅ Practical tips and common pitfalls

📐 Recommended Structure

1️⃣ Introduction

Paraphrase the question prompt. Include what the pie chart(s) show, the subject, location, and year.

2️⃣ Overview

Summarize the key features: most and least significant categories, overall trends, or notable shifts.

3️⃣ Body Paragraph 1

Describe specific details from the chart. Include relevant percentages or rankings. Focus on the most prominent data.

4️⃣ Body Paragraph 2

Compare smaller or less dominant categories. Highlight contrasts, similarities, or changes over time if applicable.

📘 Useful Vocabulary for Pie Charts

• Proportions: a large proportion, a small fraction, just under one-third, over half
• Verbs: accounted for, represented, made up, comprised
• Comparative phrases: significantly more than, slightly less than, the majority of, in contrast to
• Time reference (if two charts): increased, decreased, remained steady, experienced a drop

📝 Strong Sample Pie Chart Report

Question: The two pie charts below show how a school in the UK spent its annual budget in 2010 and 2020. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Introduction:

The two pie charts illustrate the distribution of a school’s annual budget in the UK across six spending categories in the years 2010 and 2020.

Overview:

Overall, staff salaries made up the largest proportion of expenditure in both years, despite a slight decrease. Insurance and furniture saw notable increases, while spending on resources fell. The “Other” category remained constant.

Body Paragraph 1:

In 2010, staff salaries represented exactly half of the budget, the highest among all categories. By 2020, this decreased slightly to 45%, though it continued to be the largest expense. Resources such as books saw a significant drop from 15% in 2010 to 8% in 2020. In contrast, spending on furniture and equipment doubled over the same period, rising from 5% to 10%.

Body Paragraph 2:

One of the most striking changes was the increase in insurance costs, which rose from just 2% in 2010 to 8% in 2020. Teacher training also experienced a minor rise, moving from 8% to 9%. The “Other” category remained unchanged at 20% in both years, making it the second largest area of spending throughout the period..

✅ What Makes This a Strong Sample?

• 🎯 Clear paraphrased introduction with all key elements
• 🎯 Effective summary highlighting the biggest trends
• 🎯 Logical grouping of data by significance and change
• 🎯 Range of vocabulary for describing portions and trends

⚠️ Common Mistakes in Pie Chart Descriptions

• ❌ Listing all percentages without comparisons
• ❌ Repeating “percent” or “shows” too often
• ❌ Forgetting to write an overview or summary
• ❌ Ignoring minor categories or overall changes

🧪 Practice Prompts

• The pie charts below show the different modes of transport used by people in a European city in 2000 and 2020.
• The charts illustrate how households in the US spent their income across six categories in 1990 and 2010.
• The charts compare how energy was used in a typical household in Australia in two different years.

To succeed in describing pie charts, practice comparing proportions, using varied vocabulary, and keeping your writing clear and objective. Whether you're given one or two pie charts, your goal is to highlight the most important trends in a logical and concise way.

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