English guide
Practise selecting features from original data, comparing two garden maps and explaining a library process. Includes unscored responses and revision exercises.
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Prepared with AI assistance and published by English AIdol. No human expert review is claimed.
What this guide covers
Check the units, dates, positions or process route and note what the visual does not show.
Attempt the data overview, garden comparison or process response independently.
Correct an unsupported claim and identify the evidence that justifies the change.
Change one condition and write again without copying the original response.
Practise one Academic Task 1 skill at a time: decide what the supplied information supports, group the important features, then explain them accurately. The data, garden plans and library workflow below are fictional teaching material. Write before revealing the examples; no sample has an awarded IELTS band.
For test requirements, scoring criteria, a full table response or General Training letters, start with the Task 1 foundations and Academic/letter examples. This workshop concentrates on reading different visual forms, rather than repeating that introduction.
The table gives the complete data for an original chart exercise. Each visit falls into one time period, so every year totals 100%. It shows shares of visits, not visitor counts. Read these values directly, or plot the same values on a chart before writing.
| Visit period | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | 20% | 35% | 50% |
| Afternoon | 55% | 40% | 25% |
| Evening | 25% | 25% | 25% |
Your task: Write a two-sentence overview, then one sentence comparing the morning and afternoon shares in 2025. These are short skill exercises, not complete test responses.
Morning visits gained share while afternoon visits lost share, and the evening proportion was unchanged. The afternoon was the largest category initially, but the morning was largest by the final year.
In 2025, morning visits represented 50% of the total, twice the afternoon share of 25%.
Why: The overview separates two opposite movements from one unchanged series and identifies the changing leader. The detail sentence then supplies the figures behind a comparison.
Repair this sentence using the visit data: “Morning visits grew steadily by 30% because the centre opened a café.”
The morning share rose by 30 percentage points, from 20% in 2015 to 50% in 2025. The table supplies no cause and no observations between its three dates, so it cannot establish a steady year-by-year increase. The relative increase in the share is 150%, a different measure: (50 − 20) ÷ 20 × 100.
Original practice task: The schematic plans show a fictional community garden in 2015 and 2025. Summarise its main changes and support the comparison with relevant details. For a complete practice response, write at least 150 words.
Each cell represents a location. North is at the top; the plans have no scale or measurements. Compare like positions across the two plans. Do not infer construction costs, visitor numbers or the reasons for redevelopment.
| Area | West | Centre | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | Tool shed | Vegetable beds | Pond |
| Middle | Lawn | Central path | Flower beds |
| South | Car parking | Entrance | Unused plot |
| Area | West | Centre | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | Greenhouse | Vegetable beds | Pond |
| Middle | Orchard | Central path | Flower beds |
| South | Bicycle parking | Entrance | Picnic tables |
The two plans show how a fictional community garden changed between 2015 and 2025. Both plans divide the site into nine areas, with an entrance on the southern side and a central path immediately to its north.
Overall, the garden retained its central access route and several growing or decorative areas, while four other areas were given new uses. These changes introduced an orchard, a greenhouse and picnic facilities, and replaced car parking with space for bicycles.
On the western side, the tool shed in the north was replaced by a greenhouse. The lawn directly south of it became an orchard. At the southern end of this side, bicycle parking occupied the area previously used for parking cars.
The eastern side changed less. The pond in the northeast and the flower beds below it remained in their original positions. However, the unused plot in the southeast was replaced by picnic tables. In the centre, the vegetable beds, path and entrance were unchanged, so the main north–south arrangement remained intact.
Review the choices: Both dates are historical, so the response uses past reference. “Replaced” names the change shown; “expanded” would imply an unsupported change of size. The response groups locations, instead of listing all nine cells twice. Its paragraph arrangement is one option, not an official rule.
Change only the heading on the second garden plan to “Proposed layout for 2030”. Rewrite: “The tool shed was replaced by a greenhouse.”
The proposal would replace the tool shed with a greenhouse. A plan does not prove that construction has happened. Keep the proposed status clear throughout the comparison; changing a map’s date does not automatically make present tense correct.
Original practice task: Describe the fictional library’s book-return process. Summarise its main stages and explain the separate route. For a complete practice response, write at least 150 words.
The numbered flow below is the complete process supplied for this exercise. Follow stages 1–6 for undamaged books; damaged books leave at stage 3.
Boundary: The diagram ends at the shelves and repair desk. It does not show what happens after repair or how long any stage takes.
Identify the start, final destinations and inspection branch. Group collection/scanning/inspection together, then sorting/transport/reshelving. Sequence words explain order; the branch needs a condition such as “if damaged” or a clear contrast between damaged and undamaged books.
The diagram describes a fictional library’s procedure for dealing with returned books. It shows how items move from the return box to either the shelves or a repair desk.
Overall, books that are undamaged follow a sequence of six stages, beginning with collection and ending with reshelving. The process also includes a separate route for damaged books, which leave the main sequence after inspection.
First, readers place their books in a return box, and staff empty its contents onto a desk. Each book’s barcode is then scanned so that its borrowing record can be updated. Next, staff inspect the book for damage. Any damaged items are sent to the repair desk rather than continuing to the sorting stage.
The remaining books are grouped according to their library sections. These groups are placed on a trolley, which staff use to transport them to the appropriate parts of the library. Finally, the books are returned to the shelves and become available for borrowing again. The diagram does not show a later route from the repair desk.
Review the choices: “Staff inspect” names the supplied actor, while “are placed” focuses on the books. Both active and passive clauses fit this workflow. Present tense suits the untimed procedure given here; another diagram might describe a past or proposed process. No linking phrase or passive-voice quota earns a band.
Repair: “After repair, damaged books immediately rejoin the sorting stage. The whole process takes ten minutes.”
Damaged books are sent to the repair desk after inspection. The diagram does not show their later route or any stage duration, so remove both the invented return path and the ten-minute claim.
For another exercise in explaining a revision, use the Writing revision workshop. For a complete new task, open Writing practice. AI feedback is unofficial and may be wrong; compare its comments with the supplied information and your actual response.
Official IELTS sources checked on . Academic Task 1 requires at least 150 words, with about 20 minutes recommended within the 60-minute Writing test. The main features and supporting details matter; a memorised paragraph formula does not establish a score. Official teaching guidance permits an overview near the beginning or at the end.
What changed: This replacement removes the earlier article’s unsupported claim about analysing 10,000 essays, “perfect”/Band 9 templates, compulsory overview placement and passive-voice rule. General Training Task 1 uses Task Achievement, not the Task Response label previously stated here; the foundations guide covers letters separately.
The workshop, figures, layouts, workflow, responses and comments are original English AIdol material prepared with AI assistance. They are not official or recalled exam questions and have not been assessed by an IELTS examiner or human expert. They do not establish scoring accuracy or measured learning gains. English AIdol is independent of IELTS and its owners. See our editorial and corrections policy.
This workshop practises Academic visual description. For General Training letters, test requirements and a complete table response, use the separate Task 1 foundations guide linked above. A complete Academic Task 1 response needs at least 150 words; a letter and a visual report have different purposes.
No. Read the labels and dates. A bar chart may compare categories at one time, and a line graph may contain fluctuations or projections. Describe the observations supplied; do not infer an uninterrupted trend from sparse points.
No. Choose grammar that accurately describes the actions and actors. “Staff scan the barcode” and “The barcode is scanned” are both possible here. Passive wording does not by itself earn a band.
Make the main features clear. Official IELTS teaching guidance allows an overview near the beginning or at the end. This workshop’s examples place it near the beginning; that is a writing choice, not a compulsory formula.
No. They are original fictional English AIdol teaching examples prepared with AI assistance. No examiner has assessed them, no band is awarded and no measured learning benefit is claimed. Use the explanations to review meaning, then write a fresh response yourself.