In IELTS Academic writing task 1, you write a report in minimum 150 words. Pie chart is one of questions that can be asked in IELTS writing task 1. In order to score Band 7 or above, it becomes extremely important to examine the question well and find out key features that can be written. Let us see how to describe a pie chart.

Step 1: Read the Question Properly to Select Information

One of the foremost things to consider in mind before writing about the pie chart is to read the question carefully. In the IELTS writing task 1 question itself, you can find basic information which you can select in order to firstly understand the question and then write introduction. To select the information, you should go through the question statement, heading of pie chart diagram, labels of pie chart sections and any other text written at the bottom or anywhere.

Step 2: Start Writing Introduction

Once you are done with understanding the pie-chart question and now that you know what the question is about, you can start writing introduction by using paraphrasing skills. You can make use of words or phrases written on the diagram heading or labels in order to better describe what the pie chart is about. For example,

Question statement:

The pie chart shows the amount of food eaten by youngsters in Australia in the year 2000.

Pie-chart heading:

Consumption of food by Australian Teenagers

By looking at the above information, you may paraphrase the statements and write your introduction as:

Introduction:

The given pie chart represents the percentage of food consumption by the teenagers in Australia in 2000.

Step 3: Analyse the Pie Chart Carefully

As said earlier, it is really important to mention the key features of pie chart diagram in IELTS writing task 1. You can come to know the important features only when you have understood the diagram well. In the pie chart, make sure to find out the highest and lowest percentage sections. Apart from this, do note the second highest proportion as well. You also need to compare and contrast in the pie chart diagram. For this, if there are two or more than two pie charts, notice the similarities and differences in the percentage sections. Notifying the trend would be good to see whether the percentage has been increasing or decreasing.

Step 4: Start Writing Body Paragraph

Keep in mind that coherence and cohesion are the two important parameters as well in IELTS writing task 1. Hence, make sure that you write everything logically. There should be proper paragraphing and flow of key features in the right order that could look understandable to the reader. Writing in random order picking out key features from any of the pie charts in any order can confuse the reader. Also, do make use of connectives such as whereas, however, on the other hand etc. to compare and contrast.

Step 5: Write Conclusion

The conclusion is the major aspect of the pie chart diagram in IELTS writing task 1. Some people prefer writing it after introduction while others write it at the end. Where ever you place the conclusion, keep in mind that it should reflect the overall idea of the question. There is one tip that you may follow for writing the conclusion in pie-chart. You may mention the highest proportion and/or the lowest proportion out of the pie charts to write conclusion.