Hi
The title of this post was what an IELTS candidate said to me in an email about her IELTS Academic writing test last Saturday.
To avoid being shocked in your IELTS test, remember that in writing task 1 you may have to summarise the information in a graph, chart, table or diagram (or more than one of these).
You should also remember that in each case your summary should include an overview of the information presented, all of the main features and some details to illustrate the main features.
If you don’t include all of this information, your IELTS score may be affected.
This is what it says in the public version of the official IELTS descriptors for Academic writing task 1:
- IELTS band score 5: “[Candidate] recounts detail mechanically with no clear overview; there may be no data to support the description.”
- IELTS band score 4: “[Candidate] does not cover all key features.”
The good news is the IELTS candidate who emailed me found it easier to summarise the diagram she got in her test than the graphs she had previously done.
Have a good weekend.
Pete
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Is it required to include an overview if the diagram is a process?
Hi Audie,
An overview is required for every IELTS Academic writing task 1.
For a diagram that shows some kind of process, your overview should summarise the main stages. For maps (which are also called diagrams in IELTS), your overview should summarise the main differences between them.
This is what it says in the public version of the official IELTS descriptors for Academic writing task 1:
Pete