300+ useful sentence structures for IELTS Writing Task 1
One of the biggest challenges in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is knowing how to begin your sentences when describing charts, graphs, or tables. Using the right phrases not only helps you sound more academic but also makes your writing more coherent and natural.
Below, I’ve grouped some of the most useful expressions you can use. Don’t memorize all of them blindly — instead, practice using them in different types of questions so you know which fits best.
1. Introducing the Visual (Chart, Graph, Table, Diagram)
- The table shows…
- The bar chart illustrates…
- The graph presents data on…
- The diagram demonstrates how…
- The pie chart depicts…
- The figures provide information about…
- The statistics indicate that…
- The line graph describes…
- The diagram reveals how…
- The data shows the trend in…
- The column chart represents…
- The tree diagram reveals…
- The graph provides interesting insights into…
- According to the figures, …
- As shown in the table, …
- The data illustrates…
- This is a bar chart that describes…
- The diagram gives details of…
- The chart highlights the changes in…
- The pie graph provides an overview of…
2. General Overview / Key Features
- Overall, it is clear that…
- It can be seen that…
- A striking feature of the graph is that…
- The most noticeable trend is…
- In general, …
- Broadly speaking, …
- One of the most significant features is…
- A clear trend can be observed in…
- It is apparent that…
- The most remarkable change is…
- To summarize the main trends, …
- At first glance, it is clear that…
- A noticeable aspect of the chart is…
- A significant feature to note is…
- The data clearly shows that…
- The diagram indicates that…
- The general trend reveals…
- It is obvious that…
- The major difference lies in…
- The table makes it evident that…
3. Describing Increases
- The number of ___ rose to…
- There was a rise in…
- The figures went up sharply…
- The percentage increased dramatically…
- A significant growth occurred between…
- The statistics show an upward trend…
- The data climbed to…
- The value soared to…
- The amount jumped from…to…
- The figures surged to…
- There was a gradual increase in…
- The line graph shows a climb in…
- The figures witnessed a steady rise…
- A growth of ___% was recorded in…
- The numbers peaked at…
- The figures doubled/tripled over…
- A noticeable escalation occurred in…
- The percentage mounted to…
- The amount edged up slightly…
- There was a marked rise in…
4. Describing Decreases
- The number of ___ fell to…
- There was a decline in…
- The figures dropped sharply…
- The percentage decreased gradually…
- A significant fall was seen in…
- The data shows a downward trend…
- The amount plummeted to…
- The value sank to…
- The numbers went down to…
- The statistics witnessed a steady fall…
- There was a reduction in…
- The line graph indicates a downward pattern…
- The figures halved over…
- A noticeable deterioration occurred in…
- The percentage diminished gradually…
- The numbers dipped slightly…
- A sharp fall was recorded in…
- The figures hit the lowest point at…
- The trend declined consistently…
- The amount contracted to…
5. Describing Stability / No Change
- The number of ___ remained stable…
- The figures stayed constant…
- The percentage did not change…
- The data shows little variation…
- The trend leveled off…
- The numbers stayed the same at…
- The amount remained steady…
- There was stability in the figures…
- The statistics were unchanged between…
- The line graph shows no significant change…
- The figures flattened out at…
- The data maintained its level…
- The numbers stabilized over time…
- The chart shows consistency in…
- The percentage continued unchanged…
- The figures remained static…
- The values experienced little to no change…
- The trend reached a plateau…
- A period of stability was recorded in…
- The amount was maintained at…
6. Describing Fluctuations
- The figures fluctuated between…
- There was a variation in…
- The line graph shows ups and downs…
- The data oscillated around…
- The numbers rose and fell slightly…
- The trend went through highs and lows…
- A fluctuating pattern can be seen in…
- The figures varied considerably…
- The statistics wavered around…
- The values showed an irregular trend…
- The data was inconsistent over time…
- The amount displayed volatility…
- The figures experienced random changes…
- The line zigzagged between…
- The data shifted unpredictably…
- The numbers swung back and forth…
- The values saw unstable growth…
- The percentage moved up and down…
- The chart depicts an erratic trend…
- The results were inconsistent throughout…
7. Making Comparisons
- The number of A was higher than B…
- The percentage of A is smaller than B…
- A and B were roughly equal…
- There is a similarity between A and B…
- A is comparable to B…
- A shows more growth than B…
- The figures for A were lower than B…
- A exceeded B by…
- A is double/triple that of B…
- A lags behind B in terms of…
- A and B were almost the same…
- A is slightly larger than B…
- B outnumbered A by…
- A was marginally greater than B…
- There was little difference between A and B…
- The gap between A and B widened…
- The difference between A and B narrowed…
- A is proportionally larger than B…
- A had a smaller share compared to B…
- A accounted for more than B…
8. Describing Proportions (Fractions/Percentages)
- A constituted 50% of the total…
- B represented one-third of…
- A accounted for nearly half of…
- Only a small fraction of A…
- The vast majority of B…
- A made up a tiny proportion of…
- B formed a significant part of…
- Nearly one in four was…
- A represented a quarter of the total…
- B occupied the largest share…
- A contributed the least to…
- A’s proportion was relatively small…
- B comprised the bulk of…
- A equaled 20% of the total…
- Roughly two-fifths of…
- B represented the lion’s share of…
- A covered only a minor segment…
- The smallest portion belonged to…
- B’s share outweighed that of A…
- A occupied about one-fifth of…
9. Time Expressions
- From 2000 to 2010…
- Over the period of 10 years…
- Between 1995 and 2005…
- In the following decade…
- During the five-year period…
- From this point onwards…
- Over the course of…
- Throughout the years…
- In the first half of the period…
- Towards the end of the period…
- Over the given timeframe…
- In the subsequent years…
- During the same period…
- At the beginning of the timeline…
- In the latter part of the graph…
- Over the long term…
- By the year 2015…
- In the early 2000s…
- Over the last decade…
- By the end of the period…
10. Cause-Effect / Conclusions
- As a result, …
- Therefore, …
- Consequently, …
- This led to…
- Due to this increase, …
- Because of this trend, …
- As a consequence, …
- This resulted in…
- Hence, …
- The outcome was that…
- Owing to the rise in…
- This pattern indicates…
- It can be concluded that…
- The data suggests that…
- This highlights that…
- This implies that…
- The results indicate that…
- We can infer that…
- The trend points towards…
- The evidence suggests…
11. Describing Extremes (Maximum/Minimum)
- The highest figure was recorded in…
- The lowest number appeared in…
- A peak occurred in…
- The maximum value was…
- The minimum percentage stood at…
- The top category was…
- The smallest share was seen in…
- A record high was reached at…
- A record low was observed in…
- The figures climaxed at…
- The lowest point occurred in…
- The most significant peak was…
- The trough happened in…
- The highest proportion belonged to…
- The least significant was…
- The figures topped at…
- The graph culminated in…
- The chart bottomed out at…
- The largest contributor was…
- The smallest contributor was…
12. Processes & Stages (Task 1 Process Diagrams)
- First of all, …
- Initially, …
- The process begins with…
- The first step involves…
- At the beginning, …
- Following this, …
- After that, …
- Subsequently, …
- In the next stage, …
- Then, …
- Once this step is completed, …
- Next, …
- At this point, …
- Afterwards, …
- Later, …
- The following step is…
- The cycle continues with…
- The subsequent stage is…
- Finally, …
- In the last stage, …
13. Academic Connectors (for Coherence)
- In addition, …
- Moreover, …
- Furthermore, …
- Likewise, …
- Similarly, …
- On the other hand, …
- In contrast, …
- Conversely, …
- However, …
- Nevertheless, …
- Despite this, …
- Even though…
- Although…
- Whereas…
- While…
- Compared to…
- Unlike…
- As opposed to…
- Alternatively, …
- In comparison, …
14. Advanced Academic Phrases
- The data underwent significant transformation…
- The figures experienced remarkable shifts…
- There was a substantial divergence in…
- The statistics demonstrated steady progress…
- The chart highlights a major disparity…
- The information reflects consistent growth…
- The graph reveals gradual evolution…
- The results portray a balanced picture…
- The diagram emphasizes a contrasting trend…
- The data underscores a remarkable change…
- A profound shift was observed in…
- The table confirms a striking difference…
- A noteworthy pattern emerges from…
- The chart substantiates the claim that…
- A discernible distinction exists between…
- The figures reinforce the idea that…
- A uniform trend can be identified…
- The statistics corroborate the evidence…
- The data exemplifies steady variation…
- The graph embodies the changes in…
15. Neutral Expressions (to Avoid Repetition)
- According to the information given…
- The diagram outlines…
- The visual provides an overview of…
- As illustrated in the figure…
- The data reflects…
- As can be observed from…
- The given chart presents…
- This graph is concerned with…
- The table deals with…
- The statistics are about…
- As revealed by the chart…
- The pie chart focuses on…
- This visual is related to…
- The bar graph draws attention to…
- The diagram is centered on…
- The table gives details on…
- The data concentrates on…
- The figures represent…
- The statistics emphasize…
- The chart conveys…