In chapter 6 of my free book, The Key to IELTS Success, I explained how important it is to write an overview statement in academic writing task 1. This post shows a task 1 question I created for my Facebook page as well as my sample answer.
Here is the task:
If you look through the photos on my Facebook page you will find more samples (and corrections) provided by followers of my page. As you will see, many of the problems relate to vocabulary – so it is important to remember that writing task 1 is not only about describing figures and data.
Here is my sample answer showing the overview statement. Read chapter 6 of my free book to understand why this is so important if you want to score band 7 in IELTS.
Get The Key To IELTS Writing Task 1 to learn how to answer all Task 1 questions:
How do I get my writing task checked by you? Do i leave it in the comment section or some specific place.
When I have finished writing my new book I will have time to give feedback on writing again.
Hi, Pauline. Thank you for your sample. I wonder if there is a standard answer in Task 1 since most people have different interpretations of charts and diagrams. For example, you might focus on the item three countries spend most on while I might focus on the item they spend least on. Does this disagreement lead to my lower score?
As with task 2, there is no single standard answer. However, there are key pieces of data that should be standard in a band 9 answer. Those are the most obvious (the main patterns and trends) rather than the minor details. The way that you express these can differ a lot. But if you ignore or leave out key details then that would reduce your TA score.
In other words, I need to report all the key features required without including any details the examiner considers minor or irrelevant. Am I correct?
Yes, but examiners are given guidelines for this. Also, you won’t be penalised for including one or two minor details, you will only be penalised for not making any attempt to select the most important information and just listing all of the information that you see.
That’s a very important piece of information to me. I am really grateful for your prompt reply. Thank you.
Hello Pauline,
I am having a hard time writing an overview statement and selecting key features. I’ve read countless resources but still it doesn’t crack my brain to understand. I’m trying too hard in looking at the figures. But the way you write a sample answers shows flexibility in writing your own interpretation. It’s not rigid (terms used and the structure) like what my IELTS instructors are currently doing now.
Thank you, you’re a light bulb in my brain.
Hi Gail, you show writing skills when you can clearly sum up or explain something complex in your own words. There is no magic formula, but some of the ideas in my writing task 2 book may help – there are certain sentences within a body paragraph that have to ‘sum up’ the main ideas in a similar way. I talk about the use of umbrella terms and this can be a useful idea for overview statements too. Thinking about the ‘big picture’ or the ‘most interesting’ points or changes also helps.
Thank you so much for your time. I will wait for the release of your book.
Hello again.
A quick question, Pauline.
How many MAIN FEATURES do you recommend in a body paragraph? I have noticed that you managed to cover all the key details with only 2 minor details in single paragraph in a simple and direct manner. I really need your help because we do it differently here (Philippines) with my IELTS instructors. They suggested a structure of two body paragraphs and I find it mentally exhausting that I have to find more features and details to interpret.
Thank you so much.
In my new book (available very soon!) I take you through this process step by step. I think the method you are referring to is more than likely to be practising writing at band 6.5 and I show why this is in the book too.
Thank you so much, Pauline. I am eager to buy your book.
Hi Pauline, i want to know that should i write the overview sentence in a separate paragraph after the introduction paragraph or it doesn’t matter, because some videos on web suggest to write it in a different paragraph while some books doesn’t mention anything about it and even it’s been written just after the introduction in the same paragraph.I have got confused about this.And also what about the last paragraph, do we have to put a conclusion ( i don’t mean conclusion from our opinion) at the end or not.
So which one is right:
paragraph 1 : introduction
paragraph 2: overview
paragraph 3 and/ or 4 : main body
last paragraph : conclusion
——————————————-
or paragraph 1 : introduction + overview
paragraph 2 and/or 3 : main body
last paragraph : conclusion
i would be appreciate it if you could guide me.
There is no rule about where your overview statement should come – some people like to use is as a type of conclusion to finish their summary, I advise people write it at the start so that they don’t forget to include it. The word conclusion is not helpful with Task 1 – you must not write a personal conclusion, if you add one, and have already given an overview, it is likely to simply repeat the overview statement. Chapter 6 of my free book discusses this and this blog post has a sample answer showing the features you need to include. https://keytoielts.com/academic-writing-task-1/
so why in the Mindset for IELTS the sample answers contain both an overview and a summary? how are they different?
many of your advice are contradict to the Mindset, should I still study from it?
You have to ask them why they have written their answers this way. I can’t speak for others. The Mindset series was written by IELTS teachers and I am afraid I can’t recommend it.
Thank you Ms Cullen. Your comments are completely practical for Ielts takers. But in terms of summary in task 1, some misunderstandings are remained.
By reviewing diagrams in Cambridge IELTS 9 until 16, I find some examples that have a final (can be called summary) paragraph. For example, in IELTS 10 book (Test 4, p. 101) there is an examiner written sample (p. 167). It is confusing that one complete paragraph is allocated for an implicit analysis. Another example is IELTS 15 book, Test 3, p. 70 and its model answer (p. 133) has a final paragraph.
Thus, will an implicit analysis based on data (not personal view) increase our Band Score? If not, why Official Authentic samples are suggesting that?
I would be sincerely appreciate if you lead me to right way.
Hi Mehdi, I am not sure what your question is here – can you explain it to me? I don’t have book 15. I looked at the sample answer in book 10 that you refer to and the final paragraph is the overview. This can come at the start or the end. I don’t know what you mean by an ‘implicit analysis’. You must include an overview to score more than band 5, and it must be a clear and complete overview to score above band 6 – the TA criteria makes this very clear.
Thank you very much for your attention.
I’m sorry if I couldn’t convey the meaning of my comment. My question of a sample of IELTS book 10 is exactly about the last sentence (p. 167), where is written “It is noteworthy that …”. In diagrams there is no direct information about “freshwater” or “saltwater”. So, I thought it is not a kind of ‘overview’ and the writer use a deeper analysis –I called it ‘implicit analysis’ that I mean it is not direct.
Also, in IELTS book 15 that I mentioned, there are this type of analysis. The sample begins with this sentence: “The given scheme explains the process of instant noodles production. Moreover …”. So, we can consider the first paragraph an overview. And the last paragraph is: “Overall, it takes a considerably long time for a product to get to a super market”. Interestingly, there is no any information about time in the diagram. So, again, the writer adds something that is an indirect interpretation from the diagram.
Therefore, my problem is that in Task 1 should I add some indirect and analytical words like these official samples or not?
Needless to say, your kindness in answering question is truly worthwhile for us.
Ah, I understand now. In the Book 10 example, the reference to freshwater and saltwater is supported in the data – this is how we can describe rivers and the sea. However, you can still score band 9 if you do not know this by pointing out that ‘The first two stages in this fish’s life occur in a river environment while in the third stage the fish lives in the sea.’ This is a significant and notable fact to point out in an overview. As for the book 15 task, again I don’t have this to check, but the first sentence you give here is not an overview – it is an introduction (the sentence that paraphrases the task). The final sentence I agree is not accurate. There would need to be some indication that there is a considerable amount of time involved in the process. However, unless you have made changes here, this example does not appear to come from a native speaker as there are errors in it (‘The given scheme’, and it should say ‘time for this product to …’)
I really appreciate your helpful comment. Now, I completely understand what you mentioned.
Also, we are waiting for your new books and I wish you all the best.
Questions like this are really important for me to understand the confusion, so thank you for reading and for asking questions too!
Dear Pauline,
Thanks for posting a sample response. I always wanted to know what a perfect response looks like.
As I read your response, I can see that your introductory sentence is simpler than mine, however, I believe the cost of that simplicity is that your sentence is factually wrong. For example, your statement implies that an average Australian family spends more on entertainment than an average British family (because 15>10). Not only we don’t know that, but in fact the opposite may be the case: imagine that the average Australian family’s budget is 2000 USD/month and the average British family’s budget is 4000 USD/month. In that scenario the Australian family’s expenditure on entertainment is 300 USD whereas the British family’s expenditure is 400 USD.
In summary, the chart does not compare the expenditure, rather it compares what percentage of the budget is spent on each category. Expenditure depends on how big the budget is, and that, most probably, varies among countries.
I wonder if my introductory sentence would get an imperfect score. If it does, I have found one reason why my writing score is never good. Would you please comment on it?
Here it is:
The figure above is a bar chart indicating the percentage of an average American, Australian, and British family’s budget spent on five categories — food, housing, entertainment, and medical.
In my first (introductory) sentence, I used the word ‘expenditure’ in its more general meaning of ‘spending’ – if you follow the link below you will see that expenditure can be used with your meaning but also more generally. Your version is fine too. I am currently writing my Key to IELTS Writing Task 1 and I find that the main issues are with TA and CC, and not with the introductory sentence, which is often just a paraphrase of the task you are given.https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expenditure
I see. Thanks. Can’t wait for your new book!
I’m still in the planning and organising stage but I think the writing stage will start very soon.