IELTS Writing Task 1 Table Chart: Sample Answers & How to write

Task 1 Table Chart is one of the question types in the IELTS writing module that includes a table with words, numbers, signs or a mix of these. You need to look at the data, show facts and relationships between them, find key trends, and describe that visual information using a range of vocabulary and different sentence structures.

This post offers 3 IELTS Writing task 1 table chart sample answers with detailed explanations. Practice these questions and improve your skills in table charts.

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IELTS Writing Table Chart Task 1 Sample Answers

1. The table below shows the sales at a small restaurant in a downtown business district
2. The two tables show the number of international students in Canada and USA.
3. The table shows the results of surveys in 2000, 2005 and 2010 about one university.

Table Chart Task 1 - Sample Answer 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this IELTS writing table chart task 1 - sample answer 1.

The table below shows the sales at a small restaurant in a downtown business district.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

Model essay for table chart showing the sales at a small restaurant in a downtown business district.

The chart depicts the daily sales of a small restaurant in a downtown business district. It shows the sales of lunch and dinner in dollars during the 7 days of the week. 

The sales are generally higher on weekdays than weekends. The sale of lunch is the highest on Wednesday and the sale of dinner is highest on Friday. The sale on Saturday and Sunday is below the average sales seen on weekdays. 

The sale of lunch on Monday is $2400 and then steadily increases till Wednesday. During weekdays, Thursday saw the least sales of lunch in this restaurant. The sale of dinner is around $3500 from Monday to Thursday and then sees a spike on Friday when the restaurant gets a sale of $4350. 

During the weekends, the sale is lower than on weekdays. The sale of lunch is only $1950 on Saturday and $1550 for dinner. Whereas, the sales of lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday are $2,900 and $2,450 respectively.

Word Count: 164

Table Chart Task 1 - Sample Answer 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on this IELTS writing table chart task 1 - sample answer 2.

The two tables below show the number of international students from different resource countries in Canada and the USA in two school years.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

Model essay for table chart showing the number of international students studying in Canada and the USA.

There are 2 tables given that show the number of international students studying in Canada and USA in the years 2002 and 2003 and the percentage of change in the number of students in the two years. 

Looking at the total number of students in 2002 and 2003, it is evident that it has increased in 2003 except for the number of Indian students in the USA. Even though the percentage change in Canada is higher, the total number of foreign students is more in the USA. 

There is a 45% increase in the number of Chinese students in Canada from 5400 in 2002 to 7850 in 2003. But in the USA the change is only 6% in the number of Chinese students. The highest number of international students in the USA are from India but faced a decrease of 9% in the numbers in 2003. Meanwhile there was an increase of 35% in the number of Indian students studying in Canada from 2100 in 2002 to 2835 in 2003. 

The increase of Canadian students in the USA and the increase of USA students in Canada are comparable. The increase is 7% and 9% respectively. Canada saw a 17% increase in the number of international students while the USA only witnessed a growth of 2%.

Word Count: 215

Table Chart Task 1 - Sample Answer 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on this IELTS writing table chart task 1 - sample answer 3.

The table below shows the results of surveys in 2000, 2005 and 2010 about one university. 
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

Model essay for table chart showing the results of surveys in 2000, 2005 and 2010 about one university.

The table chart shows the data of students who gave good ratings to different facilities in their university in the years 2000, 2005 and 2010.

In 2010, the university got more ratings than the previous years for all the features except for the range of modules offered.

There is no difference in the percentage of students that rated the building and teaching facilities of the university. But looking at the percentage of students that rated the electronic resources, there is a significant rise from 45% to 88%.

The percentage in other parameters like technical quality and print resources have fluctuated up and down every year. The print resources have received the highest number of ratings from the students of the university ranging from 87% to 89%. The lowest number of students that have rated a facility is for the range of modules offered which went down from 32% in 2000 to 27% in 2010.

Word Count: 154

How to write the table chart task 1 essay?

Step 1: First, analyse the question. You have to look at the chart and determine what type of chart it is and what the question is.

Step 2: Identify the main features, including units of measurements, trends in the information, similarities, differences, etc.

Step 3: Write an introduction containing the data in the table with different wording and sentence structure.

Step 4: Write an overview, highlight the key features without going into detail. 

Step 5: Write the 1st detailed paragraph. Use the table chart data as evidence to support your writing. Describe the first main feature in detail.

Step 6: Write the 2nd detailed paragraph. This is the last paragraph. You have to describe the second main feature in the table chart and write supporting points to your statements. 

Download Table Chart Task 1 PDF

Also check out task 1 line graph