How to Compare and Contrast Data in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom on Flickr.

In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you'd usually find that the instructions would ask you to "report on main features" and "make comparisons where relevant." With this in mind, you consequently have to select the most evident similarities and differences within the presented data.

How could you mention similarities?

-One technique is that you could use the phrase "as _____ as".

On the other hand, how could you state differences?

-One tip is that you could state the an adjective's comparative form + the word "than". [Note: Read more about our adjective pointers here.]

To view examples of how these 2 techniques work, please refer to the following excerpts of SocialMediaToday's article "Best Social Media Stats and Market Research of 2010 (So Far)":

Re: Similarities

How are employees using the Internet at work? A recent study concluded that almost 7% of all business web traffic goes to Facebook, twice as much as Google (3.4%) and well ahead of Yahoo! at 2.4 percent. DoubleClick got 1.7% of all business traffic due to its massive online banner advertising network. In terms of bandwidth use, YouTube takes the single biggest share at 10%, followed by Facebook at 4.5% and Windows Update at 3.3%.

[Note: The point of similarity could be found in the discussion about business web traffic, or of how employees are using the internet at work.]

Re: Differences

In a study asking consumers to rate the most influential sources of information for their purchase decisions, 59% said “personal advice from friends or family members,” followed by 39% search engines, 36% articles in newspapers or magazines, online articles 28%, email 20% and social media 19%. Three caveats: first, though low, the influence of social media is growing. Second, social media and search are rated more influential by younger buyers and high-income consumers than by other groups. Third, the survey was heavily consumer-oriented; b2b figures would be different. The key takeaway — companies can’t put all of their marketing eggs in one basket, but need to balance budgets across several areas including email, social media, organic SEO, paid search and offline campaigns.

[Note: The point of difference here could be found in the discussion about how influential is social media and search for young buyers and high-income buyers versus the other groups.]

There you have it. In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, always remember to mention similarities and differences in the data. Again, this could help you improve your skills in IELTS writing.

We hope that you find this post useful. Cheers!


Attribution to SocialMediaToday and its article "Best Social Media Stats and Market Research of 2010 (So Far)".


Review the related tips:

• 8 Tips for Understanding and Interpreting Data in the IELTS Writing Module
• 6 Tips for Organizing and Selecting Data in the IELTS Writing Module
• 6 Tips for Comparing Data in the IELTS Writing Module

How to Describe Data in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Photo credit: Pew Internet via Read Write Web.

In Task 1 of the IELTS Academic Writing Module, candidates are required among others to describe data. To be good in task 1, they should be able to recognize trends, be able to mention the supporting evidence and periods, and be able to comment to highlight the significance of what was recently described.

To provide an example of how these elements work, please consider the following excerpt from the Read Write Web article "As Facebook Ages, Gen Y Turns to Twitter":

"When looking at specific younger demographic segments, and not just Gen Y, you can see strong Twitter uptake over the past year. For example, 37% of those 18-24 now use Twitter when only 19% did back in December 2008. And in the slightly older 25-34 bracket, a portion of which could still be considered Gen Y, 31% are now using the service compared to only 20% in December of last year. Combined, these two groups account for more than half of Twitter's network."

A closer examination of the said excerpt would reveal that the trends were recognized, the supporting evidence and periods were included, and a comment on the data was stated. Note the presence of the said elements marked in bold. Thus:

Re: Trend

"When looking at specific younger demographic segments, and not just Gen Y, you can see strong Twitter uptake over the past year. For example, 37% of those 18-24 now use Twitter when only 19% did back in December 2008. And in the slightly older 25-34 bracket, a portion of which could still be considered Gen Y, 31% are now using the service compared to only 20% in December of last year. Combined, these two groups account for more than half of Twitter's network."

Re: Evidence

"When looking at specific younger demographic segments, and not just Gen Y, you can see strong Twitter uptake over the past year. For example, 37% of those 18-24 now use Twitter when only 19% did back in December 2008. And in the slightly older 25-34 bracket, a portion of which could still be considered Gen Y, 31% are now using the service compared to only 20% in December of last year. Combined, these two groups account for more than half of Twitter's network."

Re: Period

"When looking at specific younger demographic segments, and not just Gen Y, you can see strong Twitter uptake over the past year. For example, 37% of those 18-24 now use Twitter when only 19% did back in December 2008. And in the slightly older 25-34 bracket, a portion of which could still be considered Gen Y, 31% are now using the service compared to only 20% in December of last year. Combined, these two groups account for more than half of Twitter's network."

Re: Comment

"When looking at specific younger demographic segments, and not just Gen Y, you can see strong Twitter uptake over the past year. For example, 37% of those 18-24 now use Twitter when only 19% did back in December 2008. And in the slightly older 25-34 bracket, a portion of which could still be considered Gen Y, 31% are now using the service compared to only 20% in December of last year. Combined, these two groups account for more than half of Twitter's network."

To summarize today's tips for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, try to include trends, evidence, periods, and a comment in your writing tasks. So candidates, do keep in mind the "trend-evidence-period-comment" format. This could help you improve your skills in IELTS Academic Writing task 1.

We hope that you find this post useful. Cheers!

Attribution to Sarah Perez and Read Write Web for the Article "As Facebook Ages, Gen Y Turns to Twitter."


Review the related tips:

• 8 Tips for Understanding and Interpreting Data in the IELTS Writing Module
• 6 Tips for Organizing and Selecting Data in the IELTS Writing Module
• 6 Tips for Comparing Data in the IELTS Writing Module

2 Tips for Expressing Opinions in the IELTS exam

A few months ago, we shared some pointers for questions that require you to express or justify your opinion in writing or speaking.

In those tips, we basically reminded you to be clear in stating your opinions. Now how could you do this?

Remember these 2 techniques:

1) Make use of phrases that help you convey your stand or view; and

2) Make use of modal verbs to show possibilities or suggestions.

Some examples of phrases are "I think," "I believe," "From my point of view," "It is thought," "It is believed," or "It is viewed," among others.

On the other hand, examples of modal verbs are "can," "could," "may," or "might," among others.

To see the techniques in action, I'd invite your attention to the Eric Thompson article, "Schumacher still has what it takes" at the NZ Herald website. Here, Mr. Thompson wrote:

"Is Schumacher the greatest driver so far in 60-odd years of F1? Who knows. From my point of view you can't compare Fangio, Hawthorn and Clarke etc with today's drivers - it's pointless. The Schumachers and Sennas of the modern era could no better drive a 1960s car than Fangio etc could drive the video cars of today."

Notice the the phrase "From my point of view..." when he stated his opinion on the greatest driver in Formula 1. Note as well how he used the modal verb "could" to manifest his view that it's pointless to compare the great drivers.

To summarize, be sure to include phrases and modal verbs that clearly express your views. Making use of these techniques could help improve your scores in the IELTS.

We hope you liked our tips for today. Cheers!


Attribution to Eric Thompson and the NZ Herald for the article excerpt.

Use Word Forms to Ace Your IELTS

Photo credit: nicasaurusrex on Flickr.

Here's one technique you could use to improve your vocabulary for your IELTS.

The technique involves identifying certain words and determining the various word forms.

English words could have different forms, depending on how they are used. Particularly, a word could either be used as a Noun, Verb, Adjective, or Adverb.

Take for instance the word "manage." "Manage" is a verb. It however has other word forms. When used as a noun, the word is "management," or "manager." If used as an adjective, it's "manageable." And when used as an adverb, it's "manageably." Thus:

manage - verb
management/manager - noun
manageable - adjective
manageably - adverb

Let's take it a step further. Consider this sentence: "Martha managed the family business after her parents retired."

In the Listening and Reading modules, words and phrases in the exam booklet questions are expressed in a different way than those in the audio recording or reading passage, respectively. Thus in the recording or passage, you could perhaps encounter the sentence, "Martha was promoted to manager when her parents stepped down."

In writing and speaking on the other hand, candidates are not encouraged to copy the words as shown in the questions or tasks. Thus, let's say that you were presented with the following question: "Efficient management is an essential part of successful companies. To what extent do you agree or disagree." In the introduction one could write, "Effective business systems are composed of competent managers..."

To sum it up, add your knowledge of word forms to your IELTS skill set. These tips could be very handy for your prediction skills in listening, for your scanning skills in reading, and whenever you need to paraphrase with regard to your writing and speaking tasks. Do remember that lexical resource is a criteria checked by your examiners in writing and speaking. The more words you know and could use to your advantage, the better your chances of having a high score when you take the exam.

We hope the tips help.