Task 1 is a different job from Task 2
Task 2 is an argument. Task 1 is a description. The descriptors treat them separately, which is why a candidate who is strong on Task 2 can still drop points on Task 1.
The difference is that Task 1 has a right answer. The data is there, and your job is to report it accurately. Any opinion, prediction or recommendation in a Task 1 answer is a penalty, and "the graph shows that the government should invest more" is the sentence that fails a Task 1.
The four chart types
| Type | What you do with it |
|---|---|
| Line | Describe the general trend, then the notable points. Name the starting and ending value. |
| Bar | Group by category or by time, whichever the data supports. Compare within the group. |
| Pie | Name the largest and smallest, then give the rest in order. Do not list all of them. |
| Process or map | Follow the stages or the stages in order. Each stage is usually one sentence. |
Almost every Task 1 has a pie, a bar or a line chart, and they appear in combinations. Practice the type you are weakest at, because a candidate who is comfortable with lines and has never seen a process diagram loses marks on a question that should have been straightforward.
Group the data before you write
This is where Task 1 is won or lost, and it happens before you write a word.
Look at the chart and find the grouping it is inviting. It is nearly always one of four:
- By time — which period showed the biggest change
- By category — which group was highest and which lowest
- By comparison of two series — where they diverged
- By cause and effect — if the chart supports it
Decide the grouping first. The overview sentence and the paragraph order then follow from it. Candidates who start writing sentences before finding the grouping produce a description that is technically accurate and has no shape, and "does not have a clear overview" is a descriptor you can be failed on.
The overview paragraph
Most candidates lose it. It is the one paragraph that is required and the one that carries points.
An overview is one or two sentences that describe the most striking feature of the whole chart, without giving numbers.
- Good: "The chart shows a steady rise in all four categories, though at very different rates, with figures for X and Y remaining broadly flat throughout."
- Bad: "Between 1990 and 2020, category X rose from 3.2 to 7.8, while category Y fell from 5.1 to 2.4."
The second is a data sentence, not an overview. It does the job the body paragraphs should be doing, and the overview slot stays empty.
The body: compare, do not list
Listing is the other common failure. "X was 3. X was 4. X was 5." earns few marks however accurate it is.
Compare instead:
- Across categories: "X was almost twice as high as Y, at 7.8 compared to 4.1."
- Over time: "The figure climbed steadily until 2010, after which it levelled off."
- Between series: "The gap between X and Y narrowed to under one percentage point by 2020."
A good Task 1 body alternates between describing and comparing, roughly two sentences of description for every one of comparison.
Language that scores well
Passive and neutral for the trend: "rose", "fell", "remained stable", "peaked at", "declined gradually", "increased steadily".
Comparative structures for the comparison: "twice as high as", "just over half of", "more than double", "roughly a third higher than".
Hedging where the data is not exact: "approximately", "just under", "around", "marginally".
Avoid: "increased significantly" when the increase is 2%, and "remained constant" when it moved 8%. The adjectives have to match the data or they read as careless, which is what you are being marked on.
The five most common losses
- No overview paragraph. Required, and frequently missing.
- Opinion creeping in. "This suggests that..." or any recommendation fails the task.
- Listing instead of comparing. Accurate but earns almost nothing.
- Over-describing the axes. The title and the units are not content. Do not spend three sentences describing the y-axis.
- Not enough data. Task 1 needs roughly 140 to 190 words. Describing four of the eight bars is a failure to report.
A structure that holds up
- Intro, one sentence rewriting the question
- Overview, one or two sentences, no numbers
- Body paragraph one, the largest group or the clearest trend
- Body paragraph two, the remaining data, with a comparison closing it
Check your count before you finish. Under 140 is a straight loss, and the words for the overview are the first thing to cut if you are short.
Practice method
Write one, then mark it against the published Task 1 descriptors line by line. Do not mark it yourself. The descriptors are written in specific terms, and the gap between what you intended and what a band 7 response actually contains is not visible from the inside.
One Task 1 properly marked is worth five written and not marked. This is the task where self-assessment is least reliable, because the errors are exactly the ones you cannot see while you are making them.
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