Analysis of official IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks

This is a detailed analysis of all 76 IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks published in official Cambridge IELTS exam practice books 1 to 19 from 1995 to 2024. It starts with a summary of how the tasks are similar and different to each other, then there is a table going through each task in detail. This is designed to help make exam presentation and practice materials reflect the real test, and to prioritise what to study. Over 1000 pages of photocopiable material for IELTS are available at https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/

Summary of official Cambridge IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks

Kinds of task

• 39 out of 76 tasks have two or more charts, tables, etc (e.g. a pie chart and a line graph, or two maps, in every book, from 1996 to 2024)
• 37 out of 76 tasks have only one chart, table, diagram etc (e.g. only one table, with no other data, in every book, from 1996 to 2024)
• 30 tasks are about some kind of trends (line graphs, tables with data that changes over time, etc)
• 28 tasks have exactly two charts, tables, etc (e.g. two maps, or a table and graph, in every book from 2005 to 2024)
• 22 tasks include (one or more) bar charts (most recently in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2020)
• 17 tasks include (one or more) line graphs (recently in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021)
• 15 tasks consist of only (one or more) bar charts (without other kinds of data, most recently in 2023, 2022 and 2020)
• 14 tasks include (one or more) pie charts (most recently in 2024, 2022 and 2020)
• 14 tasks include (one or more) tables (most recently in 2022, 2020 and 2019)
• 12 tasks consist of (one or more) line graphs (with no other kinds of data, most recently in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020)
• 12 tasks combine two different kinds of data (e.g. a bar chart and a pie chart, most recently in 2024, 2022 and 2020)
• 11 tasks have only one line graph (with no other kinds of data, most recently in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020)
• 11 tasks consist of (one or more) maps (most recently in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021)
• 11 tasks consist of just one bar chart (with no other data, most recently in 2023, 2022 and 2020)
• 10 tasks consist of (one or more) flowcharts (most recently in 2024, 2021 and 2020)
• 9 tasks consist of two maps (with no other data, most recently in 2024, 2023, 2022)
• 8 tasks consist of only one flowchart (with no other data, most recently in 2024, 2021 and 2020)
• 8 tasks consist of only (one or more) tables (with no other kinds of data, most recently in 2015 and 2009)
• 7 tasks consist of only (one or more) pie charts (with no other kinds of data, most recently in 2019, 2016 and 2015)
• 7 tasks combine a pie chart and another kind of data (recently in 2024, 2022 and 2020)
• 6 tasks combine a table and another kind of data (recently in 2022, 2020 and 2019)
• 6 tasks combine bar charts and some other kind of data (e.g. a pie chart and a bar graph) (most recently in 2024, 2019 and 2005)
• 5 tasks combine a line graph and another kind of data (most recently in 2007 and 2005)
• 5 tasks include two or three bar charts (with no other data, most recently in 2015 and 2009)
• 4 tasks combine (one or more) pie charts and tables (recently in 2022, 2020 and 2016)
• 4 tasks have three tables, charts, etc (e.g. two pie charts and one table, most recently in 2022, 2019 and 2016)
• 3 tasks have four or more diagrams, tables, etc (e.g. three pie charts and a table, in 2016, 2013 and 2009)
• 3 tasks combine a line graph and a bar chart (most recently in 2005)
• 2 tasks consist of only one map (with no other data) (most recently in 2006)
• 2 tasks consist of two flowcharts (in 2011 and 2007)
• 2 tasks combine a pie chart and a bar chart (in 2024 and 1996)
• Only 1 task combines a line graph and a pie chart (in 2005)
• Only 1 task combines a table and a bar chart (in 2019)
• Only 1 task combines a line graph and a table (in 2007)
• 0 tasks combine three or more different kinds of data (e.g. a table and two bar charts)
• 0 tasks combine maps and other data
• 0 tasks consist of only one pie chart (with no other data)
• 0 tasks combine flowcharts and other data

Times in official IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 data

• 52 out of 76 tasks are about or include the past
• 40 tasks are only about the past
• 36 tasks are about or include the present
• 19 tasks are only about the present (e.g. processes that are always the same)
• 10 tasks are about or include the future (most recently in 2022, 2021 and 2020)
• 6 tasks combine the past and present (not future, most recently in 2024 and 2023)
• 5 tasks combine the present and future (not past, most recently in 2022 and 2021)
• Only 3 tasks combine the past, present and future (most recently in 2023)
• 2 tasks are about either the past or present (ambiguous/ both times possible, in 2020 and 2006)
• 1 task is about either the present or future (ambiguous/ both times possible, in 2006)
• 1 task combines the past and future (in 2013)
• 0 tasks are only about the future

Topics of official IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 questions

• 16 out of 76 tasks are about society
• 13 tasks are about science and technology
• 12 tasks are about the environment, nature and green issues
• 11 tasks are about travel, transport and tourism
• 10 tasks are about the economy
• 8 tasks are about cities and town planning
• 8 tasks are about food and drink
• 8 tasks are about education
• 4 tasks are about architecture, housing and home
• 4 tasks are about business and work
• 4 tasks are about health and fitness
• 4 tasks are about manufacturing
• 3 tasks are about agriculture/ farming
• 3 tasks are about free time and leisure
• 3 tasks are about sports and exercise
• 3 tasks are about arts and culture
• 2 tasks are about gender

Apart from manufacturing and gender, these topics are also fairly or very common in official IELTS Speaking, Reading and/ or Listening papers, and in many IELTS textbooks.

Difficulties in official IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 questions

The most common issues that candidates might well have with these tasks include:

• tasks with not much data (not many lines, not many differences, not many changes, etc, so candidates must try hard to still select/ summarise and not describe everything – 25 out of 76 tasks)
• other tasks in which it is hard to select and/ or sum up (20 tasks)
• data which it is hard to spot changes/ trends in (pie charts with changes, tables with trends, etc – 8 tasks)
• tasks which are hard to plan/ to split into two paragraphs (circular processes, etc – 7 tasks)
• tasks which might tempt candidates into doing what they shouldn’t do in Task 1 (two sources of data that look like they might tie together, data it might be tempting to speculate about or use their own knowledge about, etc – 6 tasks)
• problems with having lots of data (so many possible comparisons that it will be difficult not to repeat phrases, etc – 6 tasks)
• potential problems with vocabulary (words which are difficult to rephrase, the need for irregular verbs, etc – 6 tasks)
• problems with units/ axes (a line graph of percentage changes not values as usual, etc – 6 tasks)
• potential difficulties with tenses (rare cases of needing Present Perfect to talk about, not 100% clear what tense to use, etc – 5 tasks)
• visual problems (really complicated charts or keys, etc – 4 tasks)

Oddities/ surprises in official IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks

These are some aspects that I hadn’t expected before this detailed analysis:

• tasks with not much data are more common than tasks with a lot of data
• tasks with past data are twice as common as task with present data
• there are no tasks with only future data (and few tasks including future data)
• only three tasks combine the past, present and future
• relatively few tasks combine two different kinds of data (a table and a map, etc)
• the Writing Task 1 tasks in IELTS 14 are almost all strange

These and other oddities are marked with a star (*) in the table below.

Recent trends in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks

• No task since 2006 has had only one map
• No task since 2015 has had only tables
• No task since 2015 has consisted of just two or three bar charts

Particularly in the case of the top two, it seems pretty unlikely that these will reoccur in future exams.

There are also examples of different kinds of data which haven’t been combined recently, e.g. no example of both a line graph and a pie chart since 2005. However, there had been no examples of a pie chart and a bar graph since 1996 until it reoccurred in 2024, so I would imagine that most combinations are still possible in the future (with the exception of ones which have never occurred at all like flowchart plus other data).

Other aspects (north given or not given, how many sources of data, etc) seem to have maintained more or less the same mix over time.

The first three books had the instructions “Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below”, but since then all tasks have said “Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant”.

Conclusions

The kinds of tasks analysed above mean that candidates will need practice of almost every kind of task, apart from only one map, only one pie chart and some combinations like both a flowchart and a table (though any of those could theoretically still be in future exams). It also means that candidates probably need less practice of line graphs than most IELTS materials include. Instead, they will need more practice of other forms with trends like bar charts with data that changes over time, and of other formats like pie charts and two maps.

The times analysed above mean that candidates need most practice with past data, especially as special grammar like irregular past forms are most needed in that case. However, there is also around a 50% chance of there being present and/ or future data as well or instead, so these should be mixed up with practising the past.

The topics are fairly similar to IELTS textbooks and other parts of the test like Listening and Reading, so there is probably no need for major changes to how Writing Task 1 is generally dealt with when dealing with such topics in textbook units (e.g. doing a Reading, Listening, and Writing Task 1 all on the environment is still a good idea).

Some oddities and difficulties like all of IELTS 14 being weird are almost certainly just bad writing and/ or editing. However, there are enough examples of strange tasks that teachers and candidates should try to prepare for such eventualities by sometimes choosing tasks at random or choosing odd ones that will be more challenging, not only choosing ones which are typical and/ or seem to be well designed.

Year by year detailed analysis of official Cambridge IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tasks

The columns below show the test book and the year it was published, the number and types of task/ data, times/ tenses, units, how much or little data is included, topics, if the data includes trends and other changes over time or not, and things which could make that task difficult for candidates. The most recent tests are given at the top.