Choose the right kind of Task 1 sample
IELTS Writing Task 1 is different in the Academic and General Training tests. Academic candidates describe visual information such as a chart, table, map or process. General Training candidates write a letter in response to a situation. Both tasks require at least 150 words and are assessed using Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
This means a useful sample must match the test you will take. An excellent chart report cannot teach you how to establish an appropriate relationship in a letter. A natural complaint letter cannot show you how to select an overview from data. Start with the right task family, then check the exact subtype.
The original examples on this page are teaching samples. They demonstrate decisions you can adapt, but they are not scripts to memorise. Official IELTS candidate responses show that there are many ways to achieve a band score, and a response should never be treated as the single definitive answer.
Identify the visual, units, dates, main pattern and comparisons.
Identify the reader, purpose, tone, bullet points and requested action.
How to read an Academic Task 1 answer
Keep the visual beside the answer. First check factual accuracy: every figure, category, time reference and direction must agree with the source. Then find the overview. It should state the most important patterns without becoming a list of numbers. Finally, examine the detail paragraphs and ask why particular features were grouped together.
Academic Task 1 is an information-transfer task. The writer should not explain causes that are not shown. If a chart shows fewer car journeys, writing that fuel prices caused the decline is speculation unless the visual provides that information. A good sample remains within the evidence.
Read the response in functional pieces rather than admiring it as a whole. Label the introduction, overview and detail groups. Underline comparisons. Circle data support. If a sentence does not introduce, summarise or support a key feature, ask whether it is necessary.
Academic worked sample: transport choices
A bar chart compares the percentages of employees travelling to work by car, public transport and bicycle in a city in 2005 and 2025.
Introduction The bar chart compares the proportions of workers who commuted by car, public transport and bicycle in one city in 2005 and 2025.
Overview Overall, cars remained the most common option, despite a substantial fall in their share. By contrast, both public transport and cycling became more popular, with bicycle use doubling.
Detail group 1 In 2005, 68% of employees travelled by car, more than three times the proportion using public transport, at 22%. Cycling was much less common, accounting for only 10% of commuters.
Detail group 2 Twenty years later, the figure for cars had dropped by 22 percentage points to 46%. Public transport increased by 12 points to 34%, while the proportion cycling rose from 10% to 20%. Together, these two alternatives represented a majority of commuters in 2025.
Why the sample works
The introduction changes the task wording without changing the meaning. The overview selects three central relationships: cars remained highest, car use fell, and both alternatives rose. It includes one particularly striking feature—cycling doubled—but leaves most figures for the detail paragraphs.
The first detail paragraph creates a clear baseline by reporting all three 2005 figures. The second groups the 2025 figures and expresses changes in percentage points. The final comparison is calculated accurately: 34% plus 20% equals 54%, which is more than half. No sentence speculates about why travel changed.
A weaker overview and repair
Overall, there were many changes in transport and the chart is interesting.
This is vague and identifies no key feature.Overall, car use declined but remained the largest category, while public transport and cycling both gained popularity.
This communicates the dominant pattern without detail overload.Adapt the Academic sample to other visuals
Do not copy its four-paragraph layout automatically. Transfer the decision-making. A line graph may need grouping by similar trends. A table may require comparing the highest and lowest categories across several places. Two pie charts may be organised by categories that gained or lost share. A process usually follows stages, and a map may group removals, additions and unchanged features.
For a process, the overview might identify the number of stages and the start and end points. For a map, it might state the broad transformation, such as development from farmland into a residential area. The idea of an overview remains stable, but its content changes with the visual.
Use the published guides for line graphs, tables, maps and processes and diagrams when you need subtype-specific support.
How to read a General Training Task 1 answer
Begin with the relationship between writer and reader. A letter to a close friend can be warm and conversational. A letter to a manager, landlord or organisation normally requires a more formal or neutral tone. Tone is created across the whole message through greetings, requests, contractions, directness and closing language; it is not produced by one memorised phrase.
Next, highlight where each bullet point is covered. Strong answers make the purpose clear near the start, give enough detail for every function and end with a suitable next step. A letter can contain accurate grammar yet underperform if one requested point is missing or insufficiently developed.
Check whether the organisation follows the reader’s needs. A complaint might identify the problem, explain its effect and request a remedy. An invitation might give the occasion, practical arrangements and a reason the reader would enjoy attending. The task’s bullets help, but the letter should read as one connected message rather than three isolated mini-answers.
General Training worked sample: request to a landlord
You rent a flat, and a broken window has not been repaired. Write to your landlord. Explain the problem, describe how it affects you, and say what you would like the landlord to do.
Dear Ms Patel,
I am writing about the damaged bedroom window in Flat 8. I reported the crack by email last Monday, but it has now spread across most of the lower pane and the window no longer closes securely.
The room becomes extremely cold at night, and rain entered during yesterday’s storm. I have moved my desk away from the window to protect my computer, but I am concerned that the glass may break completely. As the bedroom faces the street, the faulty lock is also a security risk.
Could you please arrange for a glazier to inspect and replace the pane this week? I am available before 9 a.m. on weekdays or at any time on Saturday. If those times are unsuitable, please ask the contractor to call me so that we can agree on access.
I would appreciate confirmation of the repair date by Wednesday.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Wong
What each paragraph achieves
Identifies the flat, earlier contact, damage and immediate condition.
Develops comfort, property-damage and security consequences.
Names the repair, gives a timeframe and solves the access problem.
Requests a clear response without becoming aggressive.
The language is courteous but specific. “Could you please” softens the request, while “this week” makes it actionable. Concrete details develop the bullets naturally. The writer does not use exaggerated legal threats or excessively formal vocabulary.
Change the tone without losing clarity
If the same practical problem were described to a friend staying in the flat, the message would sound different: “Just a quick note—the bedroom window still will not shut properly, so could you keep the curtains closed if it rains?” The contraction and direct request fit a close relationship. The factual need remains clear.
Formal does not mean old-fashioned. Phrases such as “I hereby wish to bring to your esteemed attention” usually sound unnatural. Plain sentences can be appropriately formal: “I am writing to request a refund for…” or “Could you confirm whether…?”
Hi there! Your delivery was a total mess. Fix it ASAP.
I am writing to report that two items in order 4187 arrived damaged and to request replacements.
I would be grateful if you could indicate your availability for the aforementioned celebration.
Let me know whether you can come to the celebration—I would really love to see you there.
For deeper comparison, see the guides to formal letters, semi-formal letters and informal letters.
Use the four criteria to explain a sample
Does the report select and accurately present key features? Does the letter cover every bullet in an appropriate tone?
Can the reader follow the grouping and paragraph purposes? Are references and linking devices natural?
Are words precise for data, change, purpose and relationship? Are collocations and spelling controlled?
Do sentence forms express comparison, time, cause, request and qualification accurately?
Make evidence-based notes. Instead of “good organisation,” write “The first detail paragraph establishes the 2005 baseline, and the second compares every 2025 change.” Instead of “formal tone,” write “The request uses a modal and gives practical availability.” Specific notes can guide your next response.
The Writing Assessment Criteria guide explains how the criteria work together, while the Task Achievement guide focuses on Task 1 requirements.
Common mistakes when using Task 1 samples
- Copying the overview: a new visual has different dominant features.
- Using every number: selection and comparison matter more than transcription.
- Adding causes: Academic Task 1 stays within the supplied information.
- Missing a bullet: a polished letter still needs complete coverage.
- Forcing formality: tone must fit the real relationship in the prompt.
- Memorising chunks: copied language can become inaccurate or irrelevant.
- Ignoring errors in candidate scripts: official samples may deliberately show mid-band performance.
- Chasing a label: no single sample is the definitive version of a band.
Exercises that make samples useful
- Overview ranking.
Write three possible overviews for one chart. Rank them by clarity, coverage and absence of detail.
- Regroup the data.
Take one sample and propose a different valid grouping. Explain the reader benefit.
- Accuracy audit.
Check every figure and comparison against the visual. Correct one exaggerated or unsupported statement.
- Bullet coverage.
Colour-code the three functions in a letter. Add one useful detail to the thinnest section.
- Tone shift.
Rewrite a request for a friend, colleague and organisation while keeping the purpose unchanged.
- Closed-sample transfer.
Hide the sample and write a fresh response using one learned decision. Compare only after finishing.
Use samples under realistic timing
Task 1 should take about 20 minutes, leaving roughly 40 minutes for Task 2, which contributes more to the Writing score. After studying an example, practise the same skill under that limit: spend a few minutes reading the prompt and planning, write the response, and reserve a final minute to check coverage and accuracy.
Do not measure progress only by whether your timed answer resembles the sample. Check whether you found the key features faster, covered every letter function, grouped information more clearly, or corrected a repeated language error. Those changes show that analysis is becoming independent performance.
Final Task 1 sample checklist
Before trusting a sample, confirm that:
- the original prompt or visual is available;
- Academic or General Training is labelled correctly;
- the response contains at least 150 words of connected text;
- the overview or letter purpose is clear;
- key features or bullet points are fully covered;
- data and task details are accurate;
- organisation reflects meaning rather than a fixed template;
- language is appropriate to the task and reader;
- band claims come from genuine examiner material;
- you can transfer a decision without copying sentences.
References
This guide was researched using these official IELTS-owner sources:
- IELTS.org: Academic candidate responses, band scores and examiner comments
- IELTS.org: General Training candidate scripts and examiner comments
- IELTS.org: Academic Writing test format and marking
- IELTS.org: Writing assessment resources
- British Council: General Training Writing practice materials
- IDP IELTS: Writing practice tests and sample answers
Your next response
Make one strong Task 1 decision independently
Select the key feature or letter purpose first, then write for the reader.