Lesson2:DescribinganIELTSPieChart

ThislessonwillprovideyouwithtipsandadviceonhowtowriteanIELTSpiechartfortask1.

Tobegin,takealookatthepiechartbelow,andthenanswerthequizquestions.

Youshouldspendabout20minutesonthistask.

ThepiechartsshowthemainreasonsformigrationtoandfromtheUK
in2007.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features

andmakecomparisonswhererelevant.

Writeatleast150words.

IELTSPieChartQuiz

1. Whatisthebestwaytoorganizeyouranswer?

Writeoneparagraphaboutimmigrationandoneaboutemigration

Writeaboutthepiechartstogether,comparingeachofthereasons

2. WhattenseshouldyouusetowriteabouttheIELTSpiechart?

Past

Present

3. Canyoutalkaboutincreasesanddecreaseswhendescribingtheinformation?

Yes

No

Nowtakealookatamodelanswer:

ModelAnswer:

ThepiechartsillustratetheprimaryreasonsthatpeoplecametoandlefttheUKin2007.At
firstglance,itisclearthatthemainfactorinfluencingthisdecisionwasemployment.

Havingadefinitejob accountedfor30percentofimmigrationtotheUK,andthisfigurewas
very similar to emigration, at 29%. A large number of people, 22%, also emigrated because
theywerelookingforajob,althoughtheproportionofpeopleenteringtheUKforthispurpose
wasnoticeablyloweratlessthanafifth.

AnothermajorfactorinfluencingamovetotheUKwasforformalstudy,withoveraquarterof
peopleimmigratingforthisreason.However,interestingly,onlyasmallminority,4%,leftfor
this.

The proportions of those moving to join a family member were quite similar to immigration
andemigration,at15%and13%respectively.Althoughasignificantnumberofpeople(32%)
gaveotherreasonsordidnotgiveareasonwhytheyemigrated,thisaccountedforonly17%
withregardtoimmigration.

173words

_________________________________________

As you can see, the pie chart description is easy to follow. Here are some key points in
organizingyouranswer.

Choosethemostimportantpointstowriteaboutfirst.

Thesewillbethelargestones.Asyoucanseeinthemodelanswer,definitejob,lookingfor
work,andformalstudywereallwrittenabout first,inorderofimportance,asthesearethe
mainreasonsthatwerechosenformoving.

Itemssuchasotherareusuallylessimportantandaccountforsmallamounts,socanbeleft
untilltheend.


Makeiteasytoread

Whenyouwriteatask1,youshouldalwaysgroupinformationinalogicalwaytomakeiteasy
tofollowandread.

WithanIELTSpiechart,themostlogicalthingtodoisusuallytocomparecategoriestogether
acrossthecharts,focusingonsimilaritiesanddifferences,ratherthanwritingabouteachchart
separately.

Ifyouwriteabouteachoneseparately,thepersonreadingitwillhavetokeeplookingbetween
theparagraphsinordertoseehoweachcategorydiffers.

Varyyourlanguage.

Aswithanytask1,thisisimportant.Youshouldnotkeeprepeatingthesamestructures.The
keylanguagewhenyouwriteaboutpiechartsisproportionsandpercentages.

Commonphrasestoseeare"theproportionof"or"thepercentageof"

However, you can also use other words and fractions. These are some examples from the
modelanswer:

Alargenumberofpeople
overaquarterofpeople
asmallminority
Asignificantnumberofpeople
lessthanafifth

Thistablepresentssomeexamplesofhowyoucanchangepercentagestofractionsorratios:

Percentage Fraction
80% fourfifths
75% threequarters
70% seveninten
65% twothirds
60% threefifths
55% morethanhalf
50% half
 45% morethantwofifths
40% twofifths
35% morethanathird
30% lessthanathird
25% aquarter
20% afifth
15% lessthanafifth
10% oneinten
5% oneintwenty

Practicethesephrasesinaquiz

If the percentages are not exact as above, then you can use qualifiers to make sure your
descriptionremainsaccurate.Herearesomeexamples:

Percentage Qualifier
77% justoverthreequarters
77% approximatelythreequarters
49% justunderahalf
49% nearlyahalf
32% almostathird

Thistablepresentssomeexamplesofhowyoucanchangepercentagestootherphrases:

proportion / number / amount

Percentage
/majority/minority
75%85% averylargemajority
65%75% asignificantproportion
10%15% aminority
5% averysmallnumber
Practicethesephrasesinaquiz
Thewordsaboveareinterchangeable,althoughnumberisforcountablenounsandamountis
foruncountablenouns.