Academic Writing Task 1 · line graph

Number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public Library

The graph below shows the number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public Library from 2011 to 2014.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Number of books read at Burnaby Public Library (Number of books read)

Men
Women

View the data

	2011	2012	2013	2014
Men	3,000	4,000	10,000	14,000
Women	5,000	8,000	10,000	7,000

Chart redrawn by BandLadder from the data in the original IELTS practice task. Many IELTS practice tasks come from the Cambridge IELTS series (Cambridge University Press & Assessment); all rights in the original tasks remain with their owners.

Band 8 sample answer

The line graph illustrates the number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public Library between 2011 and 2014. Overall, it is clear that men’s reading habits showed a significant increase over the four-year period, whereas women’s engagement peaked midway before falling.

In 2011, women read more books than men, with 5,000 books compared to 3,000 for men. By 2012, both groups saw an increase, with women reaching 8,000 books and men rising to 4,000. The year 2013 marked a point of convergence, as both men and women read exactly 10,000 books each.

From 2013 to 2014, the trends diverged sharply. The number of books read by men continued to climb steadily, reaching a high of 14,000 by the end of the period. Conversely, the figure for women experienced a downward trend, dropping to 7,000 books in 2014. Consequently, by the final year, men had become the more active readers at the library, reading double the amount of books compared to their female counterparts, a complete reversal of the situation observed at the start of the period.

179 words. Every figure in the answer comes from the chart above.

How to write about line graphs

Overview first: the overall direction of each line and which was highest.
Group lines that move together instead of describing each one in turn.
Give the start and end figures plus the peak or low point, not every value.

upward trend: a steady increase in a value over time
fluctuated: changed frequently and irregularly in a range
convergence: the point where two separate lines meet
diverged: moved in different directions from a point
counterparts: people or things that have similar functions
reversal: a change to the opposite of something

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Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

While the number of books read by men experienced a consistent upward trend throughout the period, the figure for women fluctuated, peaking in 2013 before declining.

How long should an IELTS Task 1 answer be?

At least 150 words; 170 to 200 is the safe range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

How do I describe line graphs?

Overview first: the overall direction of each line and which was highest. Group lines that move together instead of describing each one in turn. Give the start and end figures plus the peak or low point, not every value.