IELTS Writing Task 1 – Line Graph
Read the graph, find the main trends, group the lines with the same story, and write a band 9 answer in four short paragraphs. Then try the practice task below.
Key points
The example question and chart from the video
The graph below shows the average number of hours per week that teenagers in Canada spent on three free-time activities between 2004 and 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Band 9 model answer from the video (187 words)
The line graph compares how much time Canadian teenagers spent each week watching TV, using social media and reading for pleasure over a 20-year period from 2004 to 2024.
Overall, social media became by far the most popular activity, while TV viewing dropped considerably. Reading, in contrast, stayed low and fairly stable throughout the period.
In 2004, teenagers watched about 13 hours of TV a week, compared with just 1 hour on social media. TV viewing peaked at 15 hours in 2008, but then fell steadily to 6 hours by 2022, where it levelled off. Meanwhile, time on social media rose sharply, and the two lines crossed in 2015 at around 10 hours. After that, social media use kept climbing until it reached 16 hours in 2020 and remained at this level until the end of the period.
Reading for pleasure showed a very different pattern. It fluctuated between 3 and 5 hours a week for the whole period, without any clear rise or fall. By 2024, teenagers spent about 4 hours a week reading, which was a quarter of the time they spent on social media.
Chapters in this video (14)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:48Example Question
- 1:50What the Examiner Wants
- 2:39How to Read a Line Graph
- 3:35Finding the Overview
- 4:34Grouping the Information
- 5:16Simple Words for Trends
- 6:30Answer Structure
- 7:07Writing the Introduction
- 8:19Writing the Overview
- 9:15Body Paragraph 1 (TV and Social Media)
- 10:46Body Paragraph 2 (Reading)
- 11:40Final Answer
- 12:10Outro
Simple words for trends
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| rose / increased | went up | Time on social media rose sharply. |
| fell / dropped / declined | went down | TV viewing fell steadily to 6 hours. |
| peaked at | reached its highest point | TV viewing peaked at 15 hours in 2008. |
| levelled off / remained stable | stopped changing | It levelled off at 6 hours. |
| fluctuated between … and … | went up and down | Reading fluctuated between 3 and 5 hours. |
| sharply / steadily / slightly | how fast or how much something changed | Social media use rose sharply. |
| the two lines crossed | one figure overtook the other | The two lines crossed in 2015 at around 10 hours. |
| while / in contrast / meanwhile | linking words for comparing | Meanwhile, time on social media rose sharply. |
Practice task: Devices at home
The graph below shows the percentage of households in one country that owned a desktop computer, a smartphone and a tablet between 2000 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Group it: which two lines crossed? Which line started late?
Find the peak: when was desktop ownership highest?
All the years are in the past, so use the past simple.
Show model answer (try first!)
The line graph illustrates the proportion of households in one country that owned a desktop computer, a smartphone and a tablet over a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020.
Overall, smartphones went from being almost unknown to the most widely owned device, while desktop computer ownership rose at first but then declined. Tablets became more common after they appeared, but they remained the least owned of the three devices.
In 2000, 40% of households had a desktop computer, and this figure climbed to a peak of 62% in 2008. After that, however, it fell steadily, reaching 35% by 2020. Smartphones, by contrast, were owned by almost no households until 2004, but their share then rose sharply to 50% in 2012. Shortly afterwards, smartphones overtook desktop computers, and by the end of the period nine out of ten households had one.
Tablets did not appear on the graph until 2012, when 18% of households owned one. This figure increased to 32% in 2016 before levelling off at around 30% in 2020, which was slightly below the figure for desktop computers.
179 words
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