IELTS Writing
How to teach IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic): a lesson sequence
By the IELTS Laboratory team. Published 22 October 2026. Updated 22 October 2026.
Short answer: To teach IELTS Writing Task 1 (Academic), start with the overview. Train learners to spot the two or three main features before they write a word, group the details that support them, and describe numbers accurately. Then build the next lessons from the mistakes in their own reports.
Task 1 often gets less class time than Task 2, because it is worth less and feels mechanical. Yet many learners lose marks here for one reason: they describe every number and never say what the chart shows overall.
This guide gives you a four-lesson sequence and a 60-minute plan for the first lesson.
What is IELTS Academic Writing Task 1?
It is a report of at least 150 words describing visual information, such as a graph, table, chart, map or process diagram, with about 20 minutes recommended.
It is assessed against four public criteria in the band descriptors (the criteria examiners use): Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Task Achievement covers whether the report gives an accurate overview and selects key features, rather than listing everything. Task 2 carries more weight in the Writing score, so Task 1 time should be efficient.
This guide covers Academic Task 1: describing a chart, graph, table, map, process or diagram.
What do learners find hard in Task 1?
Writing an overview, choosing what to leave out, and describing numbers accurately.
Problem | What it looks like (invented) | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
No overview | Every line describes one figure; nothing summarises | Task Achievement is limited without one |
Listing everything | “In 2000 it was 20%, in 2001 21%, in 2002 23%…” | Key features are lost in detail |
Wrong comparisons | “Coal was more higher than gas” | Accuracy and range |
Data errors | Writes 35% when the chart shows 25% | Misreports the information |
Opinions or causes | “This is because people became richer” | Not asked for in Task 1 |
What is the best order to teach IELTS Writing Task 1?
Overview, grouping, language of change and comparison, then task types, in four lessons.
Lesson | Focus | Learners leave able to… |
|---|---|---|
1 | The overview | Write a two-sentence overview of any chart |
2 | Grouping details | Plan two body paragraphs around the main features |
3 | Language of change and comparison | Describe trends and differences accurately |
4 | Maps and processes | Use passive forms and sequence language |
After lesson 4, each new lesson comes from the mistakes in learners’ own reports, using the method in our pillar guide, Create IELTS lesson plans from the learners’ own mistakes.
What does a 60-minute Task 1 overview lesson look like?
Learners look before they write, find the main features, and write only the overview.
Ten-second look (5 minutes). Show a line graph for ten seconds, then hide it. Ask: “What did you notice?” Learners name the biggest change or the highest line. That is the overview.
Find the main features (10 minutes). With the graph visible, pairs agree on two or three features using prompts: biggest, smallest, overall trend, biggest change, any crossing points.
Compare two overviews (10 minutes). Show one overview that lists numbers and one that summarises. Learners say which is the overview and why.
Write an overview (10 minutes). Each learner writes two sentences for a new chart, with no numbers.
Peer check (10 minutes). Partners check: does it mention the main trend or comparison? Does it avoid detail?
Second chart, timed (15 minutes). A new chart type, overview only, five minutes each, then class comparison.
A useful rule of thumb: if the overview contains a specific number, it is probably detail.
How do you teach the language of change and comparison?
Teach a small set of accurate patterns and practise them with real data, not long word lists.
Change: rose sharply, fell slightly, remained stable, peaked at, a steady increase in.
Comparison: higher than, twice as many as, the largest share, while, whereas.
Approximation: just over a quarter, roughly half, nearly 40%.
Activity: describe and draw (10 minutes). One learner describes a simple line graph in three sentences. Their partner draws it without seeing it. Differences show exactly where the description was inaccurate.
How do you teach maps and process diagrams?
Focus on passive forms and sequence for processes, and on location and change language for maps.
For a process, learners first number the stages, then link them: First, the beans are harvested. They are then dried before being roasted. For maps, they list what was added, removed or changed, then group by area. These task types are a good place for an anonymised class correction text, because the language problems are predictable.
How do you follow up after Task 1 lessons?
Set one timed Task 1 a week, rank the problems in each report, and bring the top ones back as lessons and personal worksheets.
Data errors and missing overviews are usually the highest-damage problems. Damage is how much a mistake gets in the way of the reader. For how to sort and comment quickly, see How to mark IELTS writing faster and Common IELTS writing mistakes.
How can IELTS Laboratory help?
IELTS Laboratory (ielts-laboratory.co) is an independent online platform for IELTS teachers and learners that turns learners’ own Writing and Speaking mistakes into flashcards, lesson packs and practice. It is not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge.
Sol, our AI, marks each Task 1 report first and makes a flashcard for each mistake, which you check and edit. The cards go into the learner’s own deck, and missed cards come back sooner.
First and second drafts sit under one report link, so you can check whether a rewritten overview improved.
Personal puzzles give each learner their own sentences to rewrite.
Lesson packs group the mistakes you send to a class by type, and you can save lesson plans.
Nothing in the product is an official IELTS score.
FAQ
How do you teach IELTS Writing Task 1 to beginners?
Start with the overview only, using simple line graphs. Add body paragraphs and comparison language once learners can reliably say what the chart shows overall.
Should a Task 1 report have a conclusion?
It needs an overview, not a conclusion with opinions. Many teachers place the overview after the introduction so it is not forgotten.
How long should students spend on Task 1?
About 20 minutes, leaving 40 for Task 2, which carries more weight.
Should students learn a template for Task 1?
A simple structure helps: introduction, overview, two body paragraphs. Memorised sentences that ignore the chart do not.
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About the author. Will Salisbury is a TESOL and Applied Linguistics specialist and the founder of IELTS Laboratory. He has taught English for Academic Purposes and ESL for over 14 years at universities in the UK and Canada. More about Will →