IELTS Task 1 Line Graph Tutorial
Line graphs show change over time. The skill is not reading every point: it is seeing the shape of each line, grouping lines that move together, and describing the trend before the numbers.
About the figures on this page
Every figure, place and diagram on this page is invented by RCF English for practice. Nothing here describes a real country, town or dataset, and it must not be quoted as fact. The language you learn is exactly what real Task 1 questions need.
The task
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the number of visitors, in thousands, arriving in one country from three regions between 2015 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Practice data invented by RCF English. Not real statistics.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Asia | Europe | Americas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 200 | 120 | 40 |
| 2016 | 240 | 135 | 42 |
| 2017 | 300 | 150 | 45 |
| 2018 | 355 | 165 | 47 |
| 2019 | 380 | 170 | 50 |
| 2020 | 90 | 45 | 12 |
Step by step: how to answer this task
Spend the first five minutes on steps 1 to 3. Candidates who start writing straight away usually miss the overview.
Understand what the visual shows (1 minute)
- What is measured? Visitors, counted in thousands. So 200 on the axis means 200,000 people.
- How many lines? Three: Asia, Europe and the Americas.
- What time period? Six years, 2015 to 2020, all in the past: use the past simple.
Find the key features (2 minutes)
Ask what a person would notice from across the room. These become your overview and your body paragraphs.
- Direction: all three lines rise every year from 2015 to 2019.
- A sudden change: all three fall sharply in 2020.
- Ranking: Asia is highest and the Americas lowest in every single year.
- Biggest change: Asia grows most, by 180,000 (90 per cent) between 2015 and 2019.
Plan four paragraphs (2 minutes)
- Introduction: paraphrase the task in one sentence.
- Overview: growth to 2019 then collapse in 2020; Asia always the largest source.
- Body 1: the growth years, 2015 to 2019, with start and peak figures for each region.
- Body 2: the fall in 2020, and the fact that the ranking did not change.
Write, then check (15 minutes)
- Write about 170 to 190 words. Under 150 is penalised.
- Start the overview with Overall so the examiner can find it.
- Support each point with one or two figures, not every figure.
- Leave three minutes to check tense, articles, prepositions and units.
Writing the introduction: paraphrase the question
Change the words, not the meaning. Language copied from the question is not counted in your word total.
| In the question | In your introduction |
|---|---|
| The graph below shows | The line graph illustrates |
| the number of visitors | how many people visited |
| arriving in one country from three regions | came to one country from Asia, Europe and the Americas |
| between 2015 and 2020 | over the six-year period from 2015 to 2020 |
The language of trends, with examples from this graph
| Movement | Verb + adverb | Adjective + noun | Example from this graph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steady rise | rose steadily, grew consistently | a steady rise, consistent growth | European arrivals rose steadily from 120,000 to 170,000. |
| Fast rise | climbed rapidly, surged | a rapid increase, a surge | There was a rapid increase in Asian arrivals between 2016 and 2018. |
| Small rise | increased slightly, edged up | a slight increase, a marginal rise | Arrivals from the Americas increased only marginally, from 40,000 to 50,000. |
| Highest point | peaked at, reached a high of | a peak of | Asian arrivals peaked at 380,000 in 2019. |
| Sudden fall | fell sharply, plummeted, collapsed | a sharp fall, a dramatic drop | In 2020 there was a dramatic drop in visitors from every region. |
| No change | remained stable, levelled off | a period of stability | Not in this graph. Sales levelled off at around 50 units. |
Model answer
Read it once for meaning, then again to see how each paragraph does its job.
Question: The graph below shows the number of visitors, in thousands, arriving in one country from three regions between 2015 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The line graph shows how many visitors, in thousands, arrived in one country from Asia, Europe and the Americas over the six years from 2015 to 2020.
Overall, arrivals from all three regions grew steadily until 2019 and then collapsed in 2020. Asia was the largest source throughout the period and also showed by far the greatest growth.
Asian arrivals rose from 200,000 in 2015 to a peak of 380,000 in 2019, an increase of 90 per cent and the steepest climb of the three. European numbers grew more modestly over the same years, from 120,000 to 170,000, while arrivals from the Americas increased only marginally, from 40,000 to 50,000.
In 2020 the pattern reversed sharply. Asian arrivals fell to 90,000, less than a quarter of the previous year's figure, and European visitors dropped to 45,000. The Americas, which had always contributed fewest, fell to 12,000. Despite this fall, the ranking of the three regions was unchanged: Asia remained the largest source and the Americas the smallest in every year shown.
Why this answer works
- The overview is separate and signalled. Overall tells the examiner exactly where to find it. It gives two features only: growth then collapse, and Asia dominant.
- It selects. Eighteen figures are available; about twelve are used. The middle years add nothing, so they are left out.
- It compares rather than lists: by far the greatest growth, more modestly, only marginally, always contributed fewest.
- It varies the grammar: rose from... to, a peak of, an increase of 90 per cent, grew more modestly, dropped to.
- It gives no reasons. The graph does not say why 2020 fell, so neither does the answer. Task 1 never asks why.
From Band 5 to Band 7: sentences compared
Each weak sentence below shows a common type of mistake. The Band 7 version says the same thing accurately.
| Band 5 sentence | The problem | Band 7 version |
|---|---|---|
| In 2015 Europe was 120, in 2016 135, in 2017 150, in 2018 165 and in 2019 170. | Lists every figure and never says what the trend is. Europe was 120 is also not true: the number of visitors was. | European arrivals grew steadily, from 120,000 in 2015 to 170,000 in 2019. |
| The visitors from Asia increased with 180 thousands. | Wrong preposition (by, not with), and thousand takes no s after a number. | The number of visitors from Asia increased by 180,000. |
| In 2020 all numbers fell because of the pandemic. | Gives a reason that is not shown on the graph. | In 2020, arrivals from all three regions fell sharply. |
| Asia is the biggest. | Present tense for past data, and too vague to earn credit. | Asia was the largest source of visitors in every year shown. |
Common mistakes with line graph tasks
Do
- Describe the overall shape of each line before any figures
- Give the start point, the highest or lowest point and the end point
- Group lines that move in the same way into one sentence
- Use the past simple for past years and is expected to for forecasts
- Always give the unit: 380,000 visitors or 380 thousand
Avoid
- Describe every year one after another
- Confuse increased by (the size of the change) with increased to (the new figure)
- Write raised when you mean rose: raise needs an object
- Write the number of visitors was increased: the passive is wrong here
- Explain why a line went up or down
Your turn: a new task to try
Now write your own answer before you look at the model. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
The task: The graph below shows the percentage of commuters in one city who travelled to work by car, by bus and by bicycle between 2000 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Practice data invented by RCF English. Not real statistics.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Car | Bus | Bicycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 52 | 30 | 6 |
| 2005 | 55 | 26 | 7 |
| 2010 | 50 | 24 | 10 |
| 2015 | 44 | 25 | 15 |
| 2020 | 38 | 27 | 21 |
Check your answer
1. The key features you should have found
Your overview should contain the most important of these.
- The car was the most popular way to travel in every year, but after peaking in 2005 it fell steadily.
- Cycling grew in every period and more than tripled, from 6 to 21 per cent.
- The bus dipped to a low in 2010 and then recovered a little.
- By 2020 the gap between the bus and the bicycle was only 6 percentage points.
2. Model answer (191 words)
The line graph shows the proportion of workers in one city who commuted by car, bus and bicycle at five-year intervals between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, the car remained the most common way of getting to work throughout the period, although its popularity declined after 2005. Cycling, by contrast, grew steadily and more than tripled.
In 2000, just over half of commuters, 52 per cent, travelled by car. This figure rose slightly to a peak of 55 per cent in 2005, but then fell continuously, reaching 38 per cent by 2020. The bus was the second most popular option, used by 30 per cent of commuters at the start of the period. Its share dipped to a low of 24 per cent in 2010 before recovering slightly to 27 per cent.
The bicycle was by far the least used form of transport in 2000, at only 6 per cent. However, the figure climbed in every five-year period, gradually at first and then more rapidly after 2010, to reach 21 per cent in 2020. As a result, the gap between cycling and the bus narrowed from 24 to just 6 percentage points.
3. Mark your own answer
Answer yes or no to each question. Every no is a place to improve.
- Did you paraphrase the question rather than copy it?
- Is there a separate overview paragraph starting with Overall?
- Does the overview give the main features without figures?
- Did you select the important figures instead of listing them all?
- Did you compare, using words such as whereas, while and by contrast?
- Is every tense right for the dates shown?
- Did you avoid giving reasons and opinions?
- Did you write at least 150 words?
More Task 1 tutorials
Bar chart
Comparing categories, and how they change.
Pie charts
Shares of a whole, and how they change.
Table
Many figures: select, group and compare.
Process diagram
Stages in order, in the passive voice.
Maps
What has changed in a place, and where.
Task 1 overview and language
The overview, the four-paragraph structure, tenses and the grammar of change.