IELTS Task 1 Strategy- Writing an Overall Trend

Did you know that NOT having an overall trend automatically lowers your IELTS Task 1 score?. For more advice on how to increase your IELTS scores, visit ielts.allearsenglish.com. If you’ve taken an IELTS class or studied an IELTS textbook, you know that you must have an overall trend in Writing Task 1. What is it? First of all, it is a simple sentence that should be in the introduction. Plus, it should start with the word overall. The examiner specifically looks for this sentence, sometimes even before reading your whole essay. Secondly, the overall trend is a general statement about the numbers or the diagram. So, do not put any specifics in it- no numbers! The important numbers all go in the body of the essay. The trick for figuring out the overall trend for a Change Over Time question, which is usually a line graph, is to put your hand over the middle of the graph, so you can only see the beginning (the first year) and the end (the last year) of the graph. Look at how the lines changed. Your overall trend should say if the lines increased or decreased overall. That’s it! Simple and sweet. Watch today’s video for more information and examples! In our online IELTS course, 3 Keys IELTS, we give you all the strategies, vocabulary and sentence structures you need, with explanations and practice, to answer all IELTS Writing Task 1 questions. Check out our online course now, the only one with a guaranteed score increase, at ielts.allearsenglish.com.