Academic Writing Task 1 · pie chart

Percentage distribution of students and international arts students at North West University

The charts below show the percentage of students joining North West University.

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

Students by Faculty

Arts: 23
Business: 14
Computing: 22
Law: 6
Medicine: 5
Science: 21
Engineering: 9

View the data

Category	Value
Arts	23
Business	14
Computing	22
Law	6
Medicine	5
Science	21
Engineering	9

Arts Students (Non-US)

South American: 79
European: 21
Asian: 6
African: 2
Australian: 4

View the data

Category	Value
South American	79
European	21
Asian	6
African	2
Australian	4

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 provided charts illustrate the distribution of students across various faculties at North West University and the regional breakdown of non-US arts students. Overall, it is clear that the Arts faculty attracts the highest proportion of students, whereas South American students dominate the non-US arts demographic.

Regarding the faculty distribution, Arts is the most popular choice, accounting for 23% of the total student body. This is closely followed by Computing at 22% and Science at 21%. Business students make up 14% of the total, while Engineering represents 9%. The smallest faculties are Law and Medicine, which comprise 6% and 5% of the student population, respectively.

In terms of the non-US arts students, the data reveals a significant disparity in regional representation. South American students represent the overwhelming majority, accounting for 79% of this specific group. European students follow, contributing 21% to the total. In contrast, students from Asia, Australia, and Africa represent much smaller minorities, at 6%, 4%, and 2% respectively. These figures highlight a strong regional concentration within the international arts cohort compared to the more balanced distribution across the university's various academic faculties.

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

How to write about pie charts

Name the largest and smallest shares in the overview.
Use proportion language: a quarter, just under half, the majority.
With two pies, compare the same slice across both.

account for: to make up a specific portion or percentage
dominate: to have a commanding influence or largest share
disparity: a great difference between two or more things
cohort: a group of people with a shared characteristic
constitute: to be the parts that form something whole
demographic: a particular sector of a population being studied

Write your own report and get a band

Take a timed Academic writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS Academic writing

On your phone? Get the BandLadder app.

Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

Arts is the most popular faculty at the university, while South American students constitute the vast majority of the non-US arts student population.

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 pie charts?

Name the largest and smallest shares in the overview. Use proportion language: a quarter, just under half, the majority. With two pies, compare the same slice across both.