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WRITING TASK 1
I. Introduction & Overview

1. Introduction: Paraphrase the question

Sample question:

The line graph below shows the number of Internet users in England from 1980 to 2010.
S V WHAT WHERE

WHEN

a. Paraphrase S: The line graph below  The given/provided line graph

b. Paraphrase V: shows  illustrates/demonstrates/represents/gives information on/about

c. Paraphrase WHAT:
• The number of + Ns + (singular verb)  The quantity of + Ns + (singular verb)
• The amount of + uN + (singular verb)  The volume of + uN + (singular verb)
• The rate(s) of + uN/Ns + (singular/plural verb)
 The percentage(s) of + uN/Ns + (singular/plural verb)
 The proportion(s) of + uN/Ns + (singular/plural verb)
 The figure(s) for + uN/Ns + (singular/plural verb)

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* Note:
a. Percent
- percent (adj, adv): by, in or for every hundred, symbolized by “%”
For example: 12.3% = 12.3 percent
- ‘percent’ comes after a number and never comes with an ‘s’ (despite the number
being larger than 1).

b. Percentage
- percentage (n): an amount of something, often expressed as a number out of 100.
- ‘percentage’ never comes behind a number (percentage of + N).
For example:
 People aged 65+ accounted for only 15% percentage of the population in 1960.
➔ ✓ The percentage of people aged 65+ was 15 in 1960.
- ‘percentage’ is a countable noun.
For example:
There were downward trends in the percentages of people aged 0 – 14 and 15 – 64.

c. Proportion
Proportion (n): a part or share of a whole = percentage

d. Rate
- ‘rate’ (n): a measurement of the speed at which something happens. (e.g., crime rate,
inflation rate, growth rate, etc.) / a measurement of the number of times something
happens or something does something during a particular period

For example:
All of the three economies showed various positive GDP growth rates, with the figure for
Japan seeing three consecutive rises over the given period.

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For example:
The most common crime in the first four years was clearly burglary, of which the rate
reached a peak before seeing a steep fall.
- ‘rate’ cannot replace ‘percentage’ or ‘proportion’ in some cases, and vice versa.

e. Ratio
- ‘ratio’ (n): the relationship between two groups of people or things that is represented by
two numbers showing how much larger one group is than the other.
- Cannot use ‘ratio’ to replace ‘percentage’ or ‘proportion’.
For example:

The number of girls per 100 boys enrolled in different levels of school education.
→ The ratio of girls to boys studying at tertiary level in developing countries in 1990 was
66:100.

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d. Paraphrase WHERE:
• in Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam  in 3 countries/nations (Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam)
• Internet users in England  English Internet users

e. Paraphrase WHEN:
• from 1980 to 2010  between 1980 and 2010
 over/throughout a period of 30 years/3 decades, (starting) from 1980
 over/throughout a 30-year/3-decade period, (starting) from 1980
• in 2010  in the year 2010
⚠️There are some words that have NO synonyms. Only change words when you are 100% sure that
the new word you are using has exactly the same meaning as the word you are replacing.
2. Overview: Summarize the key points

Min To write an overview, look for:

1. overall change
Max 2. individual group with most/least in number
3. individual group with most/least change
4. time period with most/least change
Overall 4. change in total number of ALL categories
trend

Avoid mentioning specific data in the overview. Look at the 'big picture' e.g. the
overall change from the first year to the last year (if years are shown on the chart), the
differences between whole categories rather than single numbers, or the total number of
stages in a process.

An overview should begin with

Overall, / In brief, / In summary, / It is obvious that… / It can be seen that… /

Recommended structures:

Overall, while/whereas clause 1 (S + V), clause 2 (S + V).

(Also / Meanwhile / Additionally, clause 3 (S + V).

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Example:

Task: The graph below shows the average number of UK commuters travelling each day by
car, bus or train between 1970 and 2030.

Overview:

It is clear that the car is by far

the most popular means of
transport for UK commuters
throughout the period. Also,
while the numbers of people
who use the car and train
increase gradually, the number
of bus users falls steadily.

II. Sentence structure + Vocabulary to describe changes

To talk about changes:

1. X showed/witnessed/experienced/saw + a/an + adj + noun + time.

2. A/an + adj + noun + was shown/witnessed/experienced/seen + in X + time.

3. There was + a/an + adj + noun + in X + time.

4. X + verb + adverb + time.

To compare data:

1. X1+ was (much/far/slightly/a little/considerably) higher/lower than X2 + in year

2. X1 + was the highest/lowest+ in year

3. X1 + was just/almost/nearly/half/twice/three times + as adj as + X2 + in year

4. X1 showed/witnessed/experienced/saw + a/an + more/less adj + noun + than

+ X2 + time.

5. X1 + verb + (slightly/considerably/significantly) + more adv + than X2 did + time.

6. X1 + verb + the most adv + time

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To write about future predictions: we can use will, but you can also show a range of grammar by using
the following words and phrases:

Language used to write about future predictions

Nouns:
• Estimations of • Projections for • Predictions for

Adjectives
• Predicted • Projected • Anticipated
• Estimated • Expected

Verbs:
• To be estimated to • To be predicted to
• To be expected to • To be projected to

NB we can also use these verbs with a preparatory “It followed by ‘that’ + a clause.
• It is estimated that something will happen / will have happened
• It is expected that something will happen / will have happened
• It is predicted that something will happen / will have happened
• It is projected that something will happen / will have happened

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Verbs and Nouns to describe trends

Verb Noun Meaning Adjective Adverb Meaning

increase an increase slow slowly

rise a rise slight slightly

grow a growth gradual gradually

climb a climb moderate moderately

an upward
go up sharp sharply
trend

decrease a decrease rapid rapidly

drop a drop significant significantly

decline a decline dramatic dramatically

a downward
go down remarkable remarkably
trend
stabilize/
remain stability substantial substantially
stable

fluctuate a fluctuation considerable considerably

- To describe an increase/a decrease of

how much: Noun + of + figure; Verb +
by + figure
peak/ - To describe an increase/a decrease from
reach the peak/ a figure to a figure: Verb + from +
hit the highest point figure 1 + to + figure 2
- start, begin, end, finish, peak, reach a
peak, hit the highest point, bottom out, hit
a trough, remain stable → at + figure

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Additional Vocabulary:
To describe Upward trends:
soar The price soared in November. very significant increase

rocket It then rocketed to a high of 75%. sudden, significant growth

leap This figure leapt to 80,000 by the end of the period. sudden growth
needs an adverb to indicate
climb The number of televisions sold in 2010 climbed.
the extend or speed
surge It then surged to a high of 75,000 units.

To describe Downward trends:

plummet It then plummeted to a low of 20%. quickly and significantly
similar to plummet, but
sink … after that it sank to 75.
slower
This amount dropped by 30% in the third quarter small decrease, can be used
drop
of the year. as nouns
The number of female doctors dipped in the last small decrease, can be used
dip
decade. as nouns
go back down towards a
slip back … only to slip back to 900 in May.
previous level

Nouns
To increase your IELTS writing vocabulary, you can modify many (but not all) trend verbs into nouns.

Verb Noun

to oscillate an oscillation

to swing a swing

to fluctuate a fluctuation

to recover a recovery

to escalate an escalation

to plunge a plunge

to dip a dip

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Adjectives and Adverbs:

These words describe the extent (big or small) to which something happened.

A. Adjectives and Adverbs of Degree:

Adjective Example Adverb Example

dramatic a dramatic rise dramatically rose dramatically

substantial a substantial rise substantially rose substantially

significant a significant fall significantly fell significantly

sudden a sudden fall suddenly fell suddenly

massive a massive decrease massively massively decreased

B. Steady changes:
Adjective Example Adverb Example

steady a steady increase steadily increased steadily

consistent a consistent decrease consistently decreased consistently

gradual a gradual increase gradually increased gradually

C. Small changes:
Adjective Example Adverb Example

modest a modest increase modestly increased modestly

moderate a moderate rise moderately rose moderately

marginal a marginal fall marginally fell marginally

D. More Useful Trend Words
These adjectives can be used to describes more general trends:

Adjective Example

overall It is evident that the overall trend was consistently upwards.

downward … showed a downward trend throughout the period.

upward This upward trend finished in 1998.

Notes: “overall” is particularly useful for your introduction as it describes a general trend.

“upward” and “downward” are adjectives; the adverbs are “upwards” and “downwards”

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A. Pie chart

Verbs to show statistics:

• be + #, %
• account for + %
• make up + %
• comprise + %
• constitute + %
• amount to + #, %

Note:

- The number/amount/rate/figure of N + be + #, %
E.g: The proportion of coal and petrol was nearly 90% of energy generation in France.
- N account for/make up/comprise/constitute/amount to + #, %
E.g: Coal and petrol accounted for nearly 90% of energy generation in France.

Example: The pie charts below show the comparison of different kinds of energy production in France in two
years.

Having a look at the 1995 situation, we can notice that in 1995 gas, coal and petrol accounted for nearly
90% of energy generation in France (29,63%, 29,80% and 29,27% respectively). Nuclear only made up

about 6%, while the proportion of other sources of energy was 5%. In contrast, in 2005, nuclear and other

kinds of energy production both increased, with nuclear amounting to a tenth of the total, and the others
comprised just over 9%.

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b. Phrases to describe approximation and proportion:

1) Approximation words and phrases:

• Approximately/Roughly/About/Around
• Nearly/Almost
+ #, %
• Exactly
• Just over/above/under/below
• north of/south of

Example:
• There are approximately 12 million migrants with their dependents living in the EU countries.
• Ireland contains just over 2300 acres of agricultural land.

2) Fractions:
Just over a fifth - around 22% A large number - around 70%
Just under a fifth - around 18% A large proportion - around 70%
Slightly less than a quarter - 23% A significant proportion - around 80%
More than two fifths - around 42% A small minority - around 5 to 10%
Approximately half - 48% A small number/amount - 5 to 10%
Around a fifth - 19% A tiny fraction/portion - around 2%

Example sentences (taken from various task 1 reports):

• Approximately half of all vehicles produced in Japan were exported.

• A large proportion of the population of Italy is under 65 years old.
• This figure increased but then dropped to slightly less than a quarter in 2011.
• An insignificant amount of software was downloaded in the last part of 2002.
• It can be seen from the table that around a fifth of all passengers used buses in the period between
2012 and 2016.
• The pie chart shows that a large number of tourists visited Kyoto in the first part of 2015.

* Notes:
- Perhaps because the segments or portions of the circle or ‘pie’ are easy to visualize, it is tempting to refer
to fractions (e.g., a half, a third, a quarter, etc.). This is a nice way to avoid repeating percentage’ in your
answer, but you do need to be consistent. Look at the following problem:
• Online music sales showed the highest growth of 12% from just over a fifth to constitute about a
third of overall online sales for the given sectors.
- This mixture of percentages and fractions is confusing for the reader - it does not give us a clear picture of
what the data for online music sales is. If you want to use fractions, it is better to limit these to the most
common (a half, a third, a quarter etc.) and be sure to give the real data to support your statement. For
example:
• Online music sales showed the highest growth over this period increasing from a quarter (25%) to
just over a third of all online sales (36%).

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If the portion for ‘Other’ is relatively small, you can ignore it as a minor detail. However, if this is a significant
number then you should treat it as a key feature and mention it in your summary. You need to be careful
when you write about the ‘Other’ category because you cannot use this word on its own, like this:

• Other made up a further 7% of the budget.

• A further 7% of the budget was spent on ‘Other’.
• The smallest type of cost was other, at 7%.

Instead, you need to add a noun. In the pie chart above, the categories are ‘expenses’ or ‘costs’, so you can
write:
• Other expenses / costs made up a further 7% of the budget.
• A further 7% of the budget was spent on other costs.

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B. Charts without trends

A. Comparison Structures
a) Using comparative and superlative adjectives
Adjective Comparative Superlative
high higher than the highest
low lower than the lowest
little less than the least
much more than the most
expensive more / less expensive than the most / least expensive
…

The table below gives information on consumer spending on many items in five countries in 2002.

Example: The proportion of spending on leisure and education was also highest in Turkey, at 4.35%, while
expenditure on clothing and footwear was significantly higher in Italy, at 9%, than in any of the other
countries.

b) As/Whereas/While X verb, Y verb or X verb, while/as/whereas Y verb

Example: The largest percentage of money spent on food, drinks and tobacco was in Turkey, accounting for
32.14% of the national consumption, while the least was in Sweden (15.77%)

c) Comparison using Conjunctions or Linking phrases.

Although In contrast, On the other hand,

Similarly, In comparison (with sth), compared to sth

Example: It is clear that the largest proportion of consumer spending in each country went on food, drinks and
tobacco. On the other hand, the leisure/education category has the lowest percentages in the table.

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d) Phrases to describe a multiplicative comparison:

1) A double/triple B
Example: The number of unemployed people in Turkey doubled that in France.

2) There was/were twice/three times as many/much A as/compared to B

3) Twice/Three times as many/much A + V + as/compared to B.

Example: There were twice as many unemployed people in Turkey as in France.

Twice as many people were unemployed in Turkey compared to France.

4) A + be + around/over + double/triple/quadruple + B.
Example: In all the countries, Turkey was the biggest spender on leisure and education at 4.35%, which was

around double Spain’s spending (1.98%).

5) S + V + multiple numbers + as + much/many/adj/adv + (N) + as + N/pronoun.

Example: Turkey’s spending on food, drinks and tobaccos was around five times as high as its spending on
clothing and footwear (6,63%).

Pay particular attention to the use of countable and uncountable nouns and prepositions.

Making comparisons

The phrases below include countable nouns (people / sales / figures) and uncountable nouns
(oil / money)
• As many as: X had as many sales as Y
• As much as: X used as much oil as Y
• Not as many as: Y did not have as many sales as X
• Not as much as: Z did not use as much oil as Y
• Twice / three times (etc.) as many as: Z had twice as many sales as X
• Twice / three times (etc.) as much as: Z used twice as much oil as X

• (far / slightly / significantly) more ... than: X had far more sales than Y
X spent slightly more money than Y
• (far / slightly / significantly) fewer … than: X had far fewer sales than Y
• (far / slightly / significantly) less … than: X used slightly less oil than Y

In each case, we can also use ‘in comparison to’ instead of ‘than'.
Ex: X had far more sales in comparison to Y; X used slightly less oil in comparison to Y
• X had the highest / lowest (figures / sales etc.) of all
• X had the highest / lowest (figures / sales etc.) in the (e.g., table / world / region)
• do something more frequently / more often than
• do something less frequently / often than

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C. Maps

In IELTS writing task 1, you might be given 2 maps to compare. The maps will be of the same location
at different times. This could be in the past, the present time or a plan for a proposed development in the
future. You are required to write about the changes you see between the maps.

Example: Look at the maps of Sunnyhill University campus in 1995 and today.

Analyze the maps by answering the following questions:

1) What time periods are shown? Are the maps of past, present or future situations? This is important to
note because it will determine whether you write your essay using past, present or future tenses.

2) What are the main differences between the maps? What features have disappeared? What new
features are in their place?

3) What features have remained the same over the time period? Although the location on the maps
will have undergone major development, some features may
remain unchanged.

Also, think about prepositions of place (between, in front of, next

to, etc.) and directional language (north, south, east, west, etc.) that
you can use.

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Write a complete maps essay

The two maps show changes to the campus of

Sunnyhills University between 1995 and today.

We can see that the university made many

changes during this period, including new buildings
and recreation facilities.

In the past, (...) The halls of residence were

moved to the far left of the campus and a new Arts
Building was built opposite them.

The old sports ground, gym and tennis courts

were demolished; (...) a new gym and squash
courts. They also built two new cafes.

(Optional conclusion) So, it is clear that the

university changed and expanded during this period.

After noting down the key features of both maps, you can start writing your essay

a) Step 1: Write an Introduction (paraphrase the task question)

Example

Question: The maps below show the coastal village of Seaville in 1980 and 2010.

The given maps illustrate the transformations of between ___ and ___
The provided maps demonstrate [place] from ___ to ___
describe several changes which took
place in [place]

Paraphrased: The given maps illustrate the transformations of the

coastal village of Seaville from 1980 to 2010.

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b) Step 2: Write an Overview (summarize the key features)

Recommended structure:

Overall, [place] + V (undergo/witness/see) + (major) alterations,

with the most noticeable being + [noun phrase]

The noun phrase can be one of the following:

a) The relocation and expansion of + ABC

b) The replacement of ABC with XYZ
c) The addition of ABC
d) The erection of ABC
e) The disappearance of ABC

Example: Overall, the coastal village of Seaville witnessed major alterations, with
the most noticeable being the erection of the retirement village.

c) Step 3: Write the Body Paragraphs

Paragraphs 3 and 4 of your IELTS map essay are where you include more detailed information. In
paragraph 3, you should give evidence to support your first 1 or 2 key features. For the fourth and final
paragraph, you do the same thing for your remaining key features.
Use prepositions of place, directional language, and verbs describing changes in passive voice to write
sentences. For example:

• The offices were demolished and the surrounding area was redeveloped with a new leisure centre
opening up.
• The trees to the north of the river were cut down and a new office block was built.
• A railway was constructed to the east of the housing estate with the introduction of a new train
station.
• Houses were constructed next to the primary school.
• The footpath by the river was expanded.

Pay close attention to the time periods. In some cases, you need to use other tenses, like the
present perfect or future simple. For example:
Maps of the past and the present:
• Over the 20-year period, the area has witnessed big changes, especially to the farmland areas
which were redeveloped.
• The forest and green spaces have been profoundly affected over the two decades and were
replaced by housing.
• The city centre has seen dramatic changes over the years.
• The town used to be very green but it has become much more industrialised in the last 15 years.

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*Note: Most charts require past tense: Past Simple / Past Perfect (by)
- A further common problem with map or plan tasks is using only one tense. Doing this means you are not
showing a range of structures, which may lower your Grammatical range and accuracy score (Band 5 ‘uses
only a limited range of structures’). This problem often occurs when a candidate describes the features
that can be seen in the first map, and then the features that can been seen in the second map. Look at the
following example:
Before:
The first map shows an island before development. There are some trees here and there, and there
is a beach on the west coast.
The second map shows the island after development. There are two blocks of accommodation and
there is a reception and a restaurant between them. The restaurant is connected to a pier by a
vehicle track.
- Although there are no grammatical mistakes here, there is also no range (everything is in the simple present
tense). A further problem is that this answer describes each map and detail separately, as though there is no
connection between them. This means that the writer is not summarizing the main changes, highlighting the
key features, and making comparisons where relevant, which lowers the Task Achievement score as well as
the Grammatical Range and Accuracy score.

KEY IDEA: Don’t describe each diagram separately - summarize the changes that
these maps are helping to illustrate. Making comparisons and using a range of tenses
can help you to do this.

After:
The first map shows an island before it was developed. There were no structures on the island,
only trees, and there was a beach on the west coast.
The second map shows the island after development. Two blocks of accommodation have been
built so that tourists can now stay on the island, and there is also a reception and a restaurant for
them to use. The restaurant is connected to a pier by a vehicle track, making the building more
accessible.

Use the Passive Voice

- The passive is formed by the verb to be + the past participle of a verb (is done / was done etc.) We use
the passive to omit the subject of the verb and focus on the object. Compare the following:
• Active: They built a restaurant, (subject, active verb, object)
• Passive: A restaurant was built. (object, passive verb)
- Notice the word order - in the passive, the object comes before the verb. When we need to change the
tense, we only change the auxiliary verb (the verb to be).
• A restaurant is being built.
• A restaurant was built.
• A restaurant has been built.

KEY IDEA: In map tasks, if you are using the subject pronoun 'they...' (e.g. they built)
this is a good sign that you need to use the passive.

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Vocabulary:

1. You must not give your own personal thoughts or conclusions in Task 1. With map or plan
tasks, this means that you need to be careful about the adjectives you use to describe any
changes.
Look at the following extract:

After the advanced development, the island became well established and well civilized. The
remarkable number of buildings, restaurants, reception, pier, accommodations, beach and
greeneries have enhanced the island’s beauty in very enormous ways. It could be said that these
facilities will amuse the tourists. They must enjoy sailing and delight in eating in the restaurant
as well as swimming.

Making subjective comments like the paragraph above this will significantly lower your Task Achievement
score. You need to be particularly careful of this in your Overview statement. Avoid using more extreme
adjectives such as amazing, drastic, fascinating, remarkable.

Verbs used to describing changes:

Objects on the
Verbs Examples
map

1. Demolished: 1. The industrial estate was

demolished and developed into a
sports ground by the local
community.

2. Knocked down: 2. The shops were knocked

down and replaced with a
skyscraper.

3. Flattened: 3. The factory in the city center was

flattened and relocated to the
north of the city.

A. Buildings 4. Replaced with: 4. The old warehouses were

replaced with new hotels.

5. Renovated: 5. The old buildings were

completely renovated.

6. Constructed: 6. A harbor was constructed at the

edge of the river.

7. Reconstructed: 7. The school was completely

reconstructed after the passing of
the hurricane.
8. Developed into: 8. The industrial estate was
demolished and developed into a
sports ground by the local
community.

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9. Extended: 9. The school was extended by

adding 2 more buildings.
10. Expanded: 10. The residential area
was expanded south-east by
having 3 more homes constructed.
11. Relocated to: 11. The factory in the city center was
flattened and relocated to the
north of the city.
12. Converted into: 12. The factory was converted
into apartments.
13. Modernized: 13. The infrastructure was
modernized by having the dirt
roads converted into concrete
streets.
1. Cleared: 1. The trees were cleared to make
way for a new residential area.
2. Cut down: 2. The forest was cut down to make
space for a shopping center.
3. Chopped down: 3. The forest was entirely chopped
B. Trees & Forests down to make way for a new
highway.
4. Removed: 4. Some of the trees were removed to
build a new playground.
5. A new forest was planted west of
5. Planted: the factory.

1. Constructed: 1. A new railroad was

constructed next to the village.

2. Extended: 2. The main road was extended, and

a new bridge was built over the
river.
C. Roads, Bridges
& Railways 3. Expanded to: 3. The main road was
expanded to the north to connect
to the other town.
4. Removed: 4. The railway lines were
removed and replaced by a metro
line.
1. Set up: 1. A brand-new skate park was set
up close to the swimming pool.
D. Leisure Facilities
2. Developed: 2. A playground was developed next
to the school.

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D. Process

I. IELTS Task 1 - Process

There are generally two different types of process question: natural and man-made.

In a man-made process task, you might be asked to describe how something (coffee, orange juice, bricks,
etc.) is made or how something (an ATM, the Internet, a sewing machine, etc.) works.

II. How to Write a Man-made Process Task

There are 5 steps to help you write an IELTS process essay:

Step 1: Analyse the question

The diagrams below show a structure that is used to generate electricity from wave power.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where
relevant.

You must do 3 things:

1. Select the main features.

2. Write about the main features.
3. Compare the main features

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Step 2: Identify the Main Features

Before writing, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is it a linear or a cyclical process?

• A linear process starts and finishes at different stages. It often involves the
manufacture or production of something, starting with the raw materials going in at one
end and the finished product coming out the other end.

• A cyclical process is a process that goes back to the beginning and repeats over
and over again.

2. Where does the process start and end?

3. How many steps are there to the process?

4. Can the process be easily broken down into stages?

The brick-making process, for example, can be broken down into 3 general stages:
Creating bricks from clay → The production of the finished product by drying and firing → Packaging and
delivery

5. What are the raw materials? What is produced at the end of the process?

6. What is the end result of the process?

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Step 3: Write an Introduction using the paraphrasing technique.

For example:

The pictures show the process of making cherry jam.

demonstrate how to make cherry jam.

The provided/given
illustrate how cherry jam is made.
picture(s)/diagram
represent the production/manufacture of cherry jam.

Step 4: Write an Overview

In the second paragraph, you should give a general description of the diagram or process by summarising
the main features. The answers to these questions will allow you to form 2 overview sentences:
• How many stages are there?
• What is produced?
• Where does it start and where does it end?
• Is it cyclical or linear?
• Are any materials added?

Recommended structure:

• There are (a number of) steps/stages/phases involved, from + V-ing to V-ing.

• Overall, there are (number) stages in the process, beginning/commencing with + V-ing and
finishing/concluding/culminating with + V-ing.
For example:

There are a number of stages involved, from collecting fresh oranges to distributing orange juice to nation-
wide retailers.

In general, it can be seen that there are three main stages in this process, commencing with the collection
fresh oranges, and culminating with the packaging and distribution of orange juice to supermarkets.

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Step 5: Detail Each Stage of the Process

You can:
• say what each stage does
• what it produces
• if any materials are added
• and/or discuss the relationship with the previous or subsequent stages.
The simple present passive is used for man-made processes because the focus is on the action, not the
person doing it.

Sequencing the Process: Use sequencing words to connect the stages and make your essay easier to
follow.

The first stage: The next stages: The last stage:

Firstly, … Secondly, … Finally/Lastly, …

To start with/ To begin with, … Next, … At the last stage of the

process, …
Initially, … Then, …
The process ends with +
To begin with, … Subsequently, …
Noun/Noun phrase

At the first stage of the After that, …

The last step is when …
process, …
At the next stage, …
First of all, …
Following this, …
The first step/stage is/involves
S + to be + followed by +
+ Noun/Noun phrase
Noun/Noun phrase
The process commences/
begins with + Noun/Noun
phrase

The first step is when …

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III. How to report a Natural Process task

Step 1: Analyse the question

The diagram given illustrates the life cycle of a

frog.

Summarise the information by selecting and

reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.

Step 2: Identify the Main Features

1. Is it a linear or a cyclical process?

2. Where does the process start and end?

3. How many steps are there to the process?

4. Can the process be easily broken down into stages? How can you divide it into stages?

5. What is the end result of the process?

Step 3: Write the introduction: Paraphrase the question

For example:

The diagram below illustrates the life cycle of a frog

• demonstrate(s) • the several/different stages/phases

• The provided/given
• illustrate(s) involved in + V-ing/N
picture(s)/diagram
• represent(s) • the way in which N + V

→ The pictures show the different stages involved in the life of a frog.

Step 4: Write the overview: Summarize the main features

Give a general description of the diagram or process by summarising the main features/stages you found
in the second step. You can write 1-2 sentences.

Note: If the diagram has loops or repeating stages, write that in your overview too.
Again: start the cycle again
Repeat: and the cycle repeats
Continue indefinitely: and the cycle continues indefinitely

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Step 5: Detail Each Stage of the Process

Sequencing the Process: Use sequencing words to connect the stages and make your essay easier to
follow. For example:

The cycle begins with mating between male and female adult frogs in the ground level. The female frogs
subsequently lay a large number of eggs on the water, each having an embryo inside. In the next step, these
frogspawn hatch from the egg and little tadpoles emerge from them and they cling to water plants.
Gradually, these tadpoles grow bigger and start to form various limbs.

The following stage is the transformation of the tadpoles into young frogs where their tails start to
become longer than before and the limbs such as gills grow considerably. In the next stage, the tadpoles
start to change as their figures become larger in size, and their hind-legs appear. Next, their front legs
emerge and during this stage, pulmonary breathing also commences. Thus, their journey on water ends and
ground life begins. Afterward, their tails begin to shorten which disappear in the succeeding stage. Finally,
the young frogs turn into adult frogs and they are now ready for mating again.

* Note:

a) Coherence and Cohesion:

The first sentence in any paragraph should tell your reader the main topic of the paragraph. The sentences
that follow should then expand on the first sentence, adding more information. When this doesn’t happen,
the result is confusing to the reader and will lower your Coherence and Cohesion score. To demonstrate this,
look at the following first sentence and think about the questions below:
Firstly, in the upper river, the water moves slowly.
1) What does the word ‘Firstly,’ tell us?
2) As a reader, what do you expect to follow on from this?
3) What information in this sentence do you expect to learn more about?
Now read this candidate wrote:

Firstly, in the upper river, the water moves slowly. Salmon eggs are left below reeds and small
stones before becoming young salmon called fry.

The information about the water in the upper river in the first sentence is important, but it is not the main
idea or topic of the paragraph, and it is not the first step in the process. This is extra information about
where the first step takes place (the salmon eggs are left below reeds). A relative clause will help here:

Firstly, salmon eggs are left below reeds and small stones in the upper river, where the water
moves slowly.

In the extract of the candidate’s writing, the second step in the process is reduced to: ‘before becoming
young salmon called fry’. This is too much information to add to our new sentence, so we need to find a
way to refer back to the salmon eggs (which is where the young salmon come from):

Firstly, salmon eggs are left below reeds and small stones in the upper river, where the water moves
slowly. These eggs then become young salmon and are called ‘fry’.

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Think about the information in your sentences following this pattern:

In the above image, you can see that the new information at the end of one sentence becomes the subject

or the main idea at the beginning of the next sentence, working in a zigzag pattern. We can add more
information in between these sentences, but the change in focus should be made clear to the reader and
you should be able to trace it clearly through your writing.

b) Varying your sentences

As we have repeatedly seen, cohesive devices help the reader to follow your ideas. In process tasks, the
following words and phrases are often used to connect sentences:

First, … Then, … Next, … After this, … Following this, … Finally, …

These are very useful in showing the logical organization of the steps in a process. However, if you want
to score above Band 6 or 6.5 in writing, you should not use these as a template for your answer. Instead, aim
to vary your sentence structures. We can find support for this idea in an examiner comment on a Band 6
answer below:

Candidate’s writing: (Cambridge 12 pg. 130)

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Examiner’s comments: (Cambridge 12 pg. 130)

The candidate has provided a clear introduction and an overview of the key stages of the process. Each
stage is identified and described, although there are some minor errors in the reporting of stage 5. There is
room for expansion of the description of each stage, which could help to achieve a higher score. There is a
clear overall progression, with each stage being signaled by appropriate markers [First | in order to | After
that | At this point | Then, the final step | Finally]. These markers are adequate, but a higher score might be
achieved by varying their position in each sentence, rather than always placing them at the beginning.
The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task and there are attempts to use more variety here [five
general steps | connected | accumulated], though there are some examples of error in word choice [box /
tank | a circle movements / a circular movement], in spelling [undergrownd | trough | conteiner | sumary] and
in word formation [condensered / condensed | gas / gaseous | trasladated / transferred? | condensering /
condensing]. There is a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including accurate use of passive forms.
There are some errors [a / an | who / what], but otherwise the level of accuracy is good. The same level of
accuracy, over a wider range of sentence forms, would increase the score on Grammatical Range and
Accuracy.

KEY IDEA: Try to vary the structure of your sentences in a process task by NOT
always beginning the sentence with a cohesive device like these:

First, … Then, … Next, … After this, … Following this, … Finally, …

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