It can certainly be daunting (intimidating) looking at a graph you’ve never seen before, interpret the data, then write a clear overview and explanation of the data at an academic level… all within 20 minutes.

You don’t need to feel intimidated though – not when you’ve got a solid plan of attack and lots of practice.

Here’s your approach to the task:

1. Look at the graph carefully and take note of the title, all the labels, and any details given. Make sure you clearly understand what you’re looking at.
2. Identify the main patterns or trends – find 2 important ones you will focus on in your essay. You are often comparing data with each other. Look for similarities or differences, peaks/jumps, lows/drops,  or shifts/cross-overs.  Is there a significant increase in one area whereas another area drops sharply?

Once you have interpreted the data by identifying an OVERVIEW of trends/patterns, you can start to write your essay. Your essay will have 4 paragraphs. Paragraph 1: Introduction – This is really one or two sentences that paraphrases the title of the chart, graph or map.

• Once you’ve practiced this, it should come easy to you by the time you’re sitting for your test. You should be able to write this quickly so that you can spend more time on the overview paragraph and detail paragraphs.

  Your first paragraph (which can be one sentence) is a paraphrase of the title of the graph/chart/table/diagram/map. Points to remember:

  • Do not copy the title word for word. This will cost you points if you do.
  • Ensure you’ve got the information correct!
  • Make it simple and clear – don’t be too wordy

Paragraph 2: Overview/Summary – This should be 2 – 4 sentences that clearly identify overall trends or patterns. This shows the examiner that you have taken raw data and interpreted it into some meaningful information.

• To recap (briefly summarize) the paragraph structure for your Task 1 essay:
  1. Introduction
  2. Overview/Summary of main trends/features
  3. Detail
  4. Detail

  I’m going to talk about paragraph #2.

  The second paragraph of your essay, the overview/summary paragraph is very important  because it shows the examiner that you can pull important, meaningful information from data in graphs and charts and clearly identify overall main trends from that data. This will give you a higher score if you nail this part (do this part right!).

  This paragraph should have 2 sentences. Each sentence should be about a major trend or feature that stands out about the data in the chart. For example, major trends could be an overall increase/decrease in certain areas, similarities/differences in patterns, peaks/lows, or cross-overs/shifts.

Paragraph 3: Details for first trend/pattern. Describe the trend using descriptive and accurate details.

• I first wrote about the general approach to the Task 1 question and the 4-paragraph structure that you should stick to. To review:

  1. Introduction paragraph (paraphrase the title of the graph/chart)

  2. Overview/summary paragraph – this states the overall trends or features of the graph that are important. It clearly summarizes what the data shows.

  3. Detail paragraph of first important feature/trend

  4. Detail paragraph of second important feature/trend

  Here, I’m going to talk about the detail paragraph.

  Now, it’s important to know that you are not just describing the data. You cannot just describe what the line of a chart is doing (increasing, decreasing, etc.). You need to compare the data to other data in the graph to show some meaning to the reader.

Paragraph 4: Details for second trend/pattern. Describe the trend using descriptive and accurate details.

Just keep on practicing and enjoy!