🎯 Objective
To help learners practice identifying and including the essential elements needed to fully satisfy Task Achievement in IELTS Writing Task 1.
📊 Task Description
The table below shows the number of books borrowed from a public library in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The data is divided by gender.
| Year | Men (books borrowed) | Women (books borrowed) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,000 | 4,000 |
| 2012 | 3,500 | 4,800 |
| 2014 | 4,200 | 5,300 |
📚 Step-by-Step Guide: How to Achieve Task Achievement
Understanding Task Achievement
What is Task Achievement? It measures how well you fulfill the requirements of the task. For IELTS Task 1, this means describing visual data accurately and completely without adding personal opinions or irrelevant details.
The 4 Essential Elements for High Task Achievement
1. 📋 Complete Task Fulfillment
What to do: Address all parts of the task
Include: Overview, key features, supporting details
Word count: Minimum 150 words (aim for 160-180)
2. 🔍 Clear Overview
What to do: Summarize the main trends/patterns
Position: Usually paragraph 1 or 2
Content: General observations, not specific data
3. 📊 Accurate Data Description
What to do: Report data precisely
Include: Comparisons, trends, significant changes
Avoid: Listing every single figure
4. 🎯 Relevant Details Only
What to do: Select key/striking features
Focus on: Highest, lowest, biggest changes
Skip: Minor details, personal opinions
Step-by-Step Approach
Step 1: Analyze the Visual
Spend 2-3 minutes identifying:
- What type of chart/graph is it?
- What does it show? (subject, time period, categories)
- What are the main trends or patterns?
- What are the most striking features?
Step 2: Plan Your Overview
Write 1-2 sentences that capture:
- The general trend (increase/decrease/stable)
- The most obvious comparison
- Any notable patterns
Step 3: Select Key Features
Choose 3-4 specific details that support your overview:
- Starting and ending values
- Highest and lowest points
- Significant changes or differences
Step 4: Make Comparisons
Don't just list numbers - compare and contrast:
- Between categories (men vs women)
- Across time periods (2010 vs 2014)
- Proportional differences (twice as much, 50% higher)
What to Include vs What to Avoid
✅ DO Include:
- Clear overview statement
- Accurate data reporting
- Comparisons between categories
- Trends over time
- Key features and patterns
- Appropriate paraphrasing
❌ DON'T Include:
- Personal opinions or speculation
- Explanations for the data
- Every single number
- Irrelevant background information
- Predictions about the future
- Copied phrases from the question
Language for Task Achievement
Overview Language:
Overall, In general, It is clear that, The chart shows that...
Comparison Language:
In contrast, While X increased, Y decreased, Compared to, Both X and Y...
Trend Language:
Rose/fell from X to Y, Remained stable, Fluctuated between, Peaked at...
🧩 Task: Spot and Improve the Weak Response
Read the student's paragraph below. Then answer the questions that follow.
📝 Student Response:
In this chart, we see data from three different years about books. The chart is about men and women and how many books they borrowed. The numbers increased. In 2010, men borrowed 3,000 books and women borrowed 4,000. In 2012, men borrowed 3,500 and women borrowed 4,800. Finally, in 2014, men borrowed 4,200 and women borrowed 5,300. I think women read more than men because they enjoy books more. This is a clear difference.
1. ❌ Identify one sentence that should be removed because it includes personal opinion.
2. ❌ What important element is missing from this response that is expected in IELTS Task 1?
3. ✅ Suggest a sentence that could serve as a good "overview" of the data.
4. ✅ How could the response better emphasize comparison or trends instead of just listing data?
✅ Answer Key & Explanation
1. ❌ Sentence to Remove:
"I think women read more than men because they enjoy books more."
Why? Task 1 requires no personal opinion, only data description. This sentence speculates about reasons rather than describing what the data shows.
2. ❌ Missing Element:
An overview summarizing main trends or overall patterns is missing.
There's no clear comparative analysis — just listing data without insight into patterns or trends.
3. ✅ Sample Overview Sentence:
"Overall, the number of books borrowed by both men and women increased consistently over the four-year period, with women borrowing significantly more books than men in each recorded year."
4. ✅ Improvement for Comparison/Trend:
"While both genders showed a steady upward trend in library usage, the gap between men and women remained relatively consistent, with women borrowing approximately 1,000-1,100 more books than men throughout the period."
This emphasizes the trend (steady increase) and comparison (consistent gap) rather than just listing numbers.
🏆 High-Scoring Model Response
The table illustrates the number of books borrowed from a public library by men and women across three years: 2010, 2012, and 2014.
Overall, both genders demonstrated a consistent upward trend in book borrowing over the four-year period, with women consistently borrowing more books than men.
In 2010, women borrowed 4,000 books compared to 3,000 for men, representing a difference of 1,000 books. This pattern continued in 2012, when women's borrowing increased to 4,800 books while men's rose to 3,500, maintaining an approximate gap of 1,300 books.
By 2014, the trend persisted with women borrowing 5,300 books and men 4,200 books. Notably, while the absolute numbers increased for both groups, the proportional difference remained relatively stable, with women borrowing approximately 25-30% more books than men throughout the entire period.
Word count: 152 words
Why This Response Scores High:
- ✅ Clear overview highlighting main trend
- ✅ Accurate data reporting with comparisons
- ✅ Focus on key features (consistent gap, upward trend)
- ✅ No personal opinions or speculation
- ✅ Appropriate word count
- ✅ Good use of comparative language