ielts-writing-task-1-sample-line-graph
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writing
IELTS - Line Graph
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The line graph shows mobile and fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants worldwide, from 2000 to 2020. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
The chart. Mobile subscriptions begin at 12, reach 76 by 2010, and finish at 105. Fixed line subscriptions begin at 16, peak at 17 around 2005, and fall to 12 by the end.
Line Graph Model Answer
The line graph illustrates how many mobile and fixed telephone subscriptions were held per 100 inhabitants worldwide over a two-decade period commencing in 2000.
Overall, mobile subscriptions climbed steeply throughout the entire timeframe and ended as by far the more common of the two technologies, whereas fixed lines peaked early and then declined gradually. The two figures were broadly comparable at the onset of the period and diverged sharply thereafter.
In the initial year under review, mobile subscriptions stood at 12 per hundred people, marginally below the figure for fixed lines. Over the subsequent decade this figure surged, reaching 76 by 2010. Growth then slowed, though it continued, rising to 105 by the close of the period.
Fixed line subscriptions followed the opposite pattern. Beginning at 16 per hundred, they edged up to a peak of 17 around 2005 before contracting steadily to 12 in the final year, a net fall of four. The gap between the two categories widened continuously after that peak.
Words 165
What to notice: past simple throughout, because every date on the chart has passed — not one present tense verb in the whole report, and no opportunity for one. The overview contains no figures, only a shape: steeply up, gradually down, comparable at the start, diverged after. Watch the agreement: "this figure surged" (singular), "fixed line subscriptions followed" (plural), "the gap widened" (singular, with the plural word "categories" sitting directly in front of the verb). Notice also the phrase "a net fall of four" — giving the margin as well as the endpoints is a cheap way to show you can read a chart rather than transcribe it.
For more worked Task 1 examples with the same level of detail — bar chart, pie chart, table, map, and process — plus a full breakdown of grouping logic and common failure modes, see Task 1 Calibration Track.