IELTS Task 1 Table Tutorial
A table gives you more numbers than you can use, on purpose. The mark goes to the candidate who selects: who finds the patterns across the rows and down the columns, and leaves the rest out.
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 table below shows the average number of hours a week that people in three age groups in one country spent on four leisure activities.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Average hours a week spent on leisure activities, by age group
| Activity | Aged 16-24 | Aged 25-44 | Aged 45-64 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using social media | 18 | 9 | 3 |
| Watching television | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| Exercise | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Reading | 3 | 4 | 7 |
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? Average hours per week.
- What is compared? Four activities across three age groups: twelve figures.
- What time? No year is given. Choose the past or the present simple and keep to it. The model uses the past.
Find the key features (2 minutes)
Ask what a person would notice from across the room. These become your overview and your body paragraphs.
- Across the rows: social media falls sharply with age; television and reading rise with age; exercise has no clear pattern.
- Down the columns: the top activity is social media for 16 to 24, and television for both older groups.
- Extremes: 18 hours of social media for the youngest group is the highest figure in the table.
- A quick method: circle the highest figure in each column and the biggest difference in each row.
Plan four paragraphs (2 minutes)
- Introduction: paraphrase the task.
- Overview: social media dominates for the young, television for the older groups; exercise and reading take relatively little time.
- Body 1: the two opposite patterns, social media and television.
- Body 2: reading (rises with age) and exercise (no clear pattern).
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 table below shows | The table gives information about |
| the average number of hours a week | how much time, on average, per week |
| people in three age groups | people in three age bands between 16 and 64 |
| spent on four leisure activities | devoted to four free-time pursuits |
The language for comparing figures in a table
| Purpose | Language | Example from this table |
|---|---|---|
| Multiples | twice as long as, six times as much time as | The youngest group spent twice as long on social media as those aged 25 to 44. |
| Patterns with age | rose with age, declined with age, the older the group, the... | The older the age group, the more time was spent watching television. |
| Opposite patterns | the reverse was true, by contrast, conversely | For television, the reverse was true: viewing time rose with age. |
| Highest and lowest | the highest figure in the table, the least time | Social media among 16- to 24-year-olds was the highest figure in the table, at 18 hours. |
| Referring to a group | the figure for, among, those aged | Among those aged 45 to 64, television took up 16 hours a week. |
| Small differences | varied only slightly, between 3 and 5 hours | Time spent exercising varied only slightly, between 3 and 5 hours. |
Model answer
Read it once for meaning, then again to see how each paragraph does its job.
Question: The table below shows the average number of hours a week that people in three age groups in one country spent on four leisure activities. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The table shows the average number of hours per week that people in three age groups in one country spent on four leisure activities.
Overall, social media dominated the leisure time of 16- to 24-year-olds, whereas television was the main activity for both older groups. Exercise and reading occupied comparatively little time at every age.
People aged 16 to 24 spent 18 hours a week on social media, twice as long as those aged 25 to 44 and six times as long as the oldest group, who spent only 3 hours. The pattern for television was the reverse: viewing time rose steadily with age, from 8 hours among the youngest to 16 hours among those aged 45 to 64, the highest figure for that group.
Reading also increased with age, although less dramatically, from 3 to 7 hours. Exercise, by contrast, showed no clear pattern, varying only between 3 and 5 hours a week, with the youngest group the most active and those aged 25 to 44 the least.
Why this answer works
- It finds two opposite patterns (social media down with age, television up with age) and builds the answer around them.
- It selects. Twelve figures are available; the answer uses those that show the patterns.
- Comparisons replace lists: twice as long, six times as long, the reverse, less dramatically, by contrast.
- It is honest about the data. Where there is no clear pattern (exercise), it says so rather than inventing one.
- The tense is consistent. No year is given, and the past simple is used throughout.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 16-24 social media 18, TV 8, exercise 5, reading 3. 25-44 social media 9, TV 10... | The table copied into sentences. The examiner can already read the table. | Social media dominated the free time of the youngest group, at 18 hours a week. |
| Old people watch more TV. | Informal (old people, TV) and no figures to support it. | Viewing time rose steadily with age, from 8 to 16 hours a week. |
| Exercise is the least popular activity. | Not true for every group, so it is inaccurate. | Each group spent least time on something different: reading for the youngest, exercise for those aged 25 to 44, and social media for the oldest. |
| Social media is 18 hours and it is 9 hours and it is 3 hours. | Repetitive, with no comparison. | The youngest group spent twice as long on social media as those aged 25 to 44, and six times as long as the oldest. |
Common mistakes with table tasks
Do
- Read across every row and down every column before you write
- Look for patterns you could sketch as a line: rising, falling, peaking
- Use multiples: twice as, three times as
- Refer to groups precisely: those aged 25 to 44
- Choose one tense when no year is given, and keep to it
Avoid
- Use every figure in the table
- Describe the table row by row in order
- Call a group old people or youngsters
- Invent a pattern where the figures are mixed
- Forget the unit: 18 hours a week, not 18
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 table below shows the number of visitors, in thousands, to three museums in one city in each season of one year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Visitors to three museums in one city, by season (thousands)
| Museum | Spring | Summer | Autumn | Winter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science museum | 45 | 80 | 40 | 35 |
| History museum | 30 | 32 | 28 | 26 |
| Art gallery | 20 | 25 | 24 | 30 |
Check your answer
1. The key features you should have found
Your overview should contain the most important of these.
- The science museum had the most visitors in every season, with a strong peak in summer.
- The history museum was very stable across the year.
- The art gallery was the only one busiest in winter, when it overtook the history museum.
- Totals for the year: science 200,000; history 116,000; art 99,000.
2. Model answer (183 words)
The table shows how many people, in thousands, visited three museums in one city during each season of a single year.
Overall, the science museum was by far the most popular of the three, with a pronounced peak in summer. Visitor numbers at the history museum remained relatively stable throughout the year, whereas the art gallery was the only museum to attract its largest number of visitors in winter.
The science museum received 45,000 visitors in spring, and this figure rose sharply to 80,000 in summer, the highest figure in the table. Numbers then fell back to 40,000 in autumn and 35,000 in winter. Over the year as a whole, it attracted 200,000 visitors, compared with 116,000 at the history museum and 99,000 at the art gallery.
Attendance at the history museum varied only slightly, from a high of 32,000 in summer to a low of 26,000 in winter. The art gallery, by contrast, was least busy in spring, with 20,000 visitors, but its numbers rose to 30,000 in winter, when it overtook the history museum for the only time in the year.
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
Line graph
Change over time: trends, peaks and sudden falls.
Bar chart
Comparing categories, and how they change.
Pie charts
Shares of a whole, and how they change.
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.