The overview is probably the most important paragraph in the whole essay. In fact, as we will see later in this post, it is very difficult to score 7 or over without a good one.
An overview is simply a summary of the main or most important points in a graph, chart, process or map. It is normally 2-3 sentences long and should be the second paragraph you write in your essay. As we will see below, it also influences what you write in the rest of your essay.
Learn how to write a good one and you are much more likely to get a high score.
What does the examiner want?
An overview is one of the first things an examiner looks for because it shows them that you can identify the most important information from the graph or chart and clearly identify overall trends and comparisons.
If we look at the official marking scheme we can see that the word ‘overview’ is mentioned three times:
This means that to get at least a 5 for task achievement we must give some kind of overview. If we do not give any overview we will always get below a 5. If we select the appropriate data to include in our overview we get a score of 6 and if it is ‘clear’ we get a 7 for this part of the exam.
If you know how to select the appropriate data and you practice writing a clear overview, then you are likely to get the score you deserve in this section.
What is an overview?
To understand this we must look at the question. The question for academic task one is always the same:
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
We therefore need to provide a short summary of the main features. You do this in the overview paragraph by picking out 3-4 of the most significant things you can see and writing them in general terms. By general, I mean you do not support anything you see with data from the graph or chart, just write about what you can see visually.
Let’s look at an example:
Overall, I notice that there are 7 regions. Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America make up the majority, with North America being the largest. Africa, India, Latin America and China make up a very small proportion.
We can then include these things in an overview paragraph:
The pie chart is comprised of 7 regions in total with Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America making up the vast majority of global wealth. North America has the single biggest share and Africa, India, Latin America and China combined, only make up a small proportion.
As you can see, I have not talked about individual fractions or percentages, in fact I have not supported any of my features with data. Instead, I have just reported what I can see visually, without looking closely at the data. If you have to look at the data, then you probably won’t write a good overview.
How do I select the correct features?
To understand this we have to think about the different types of graphs and charts we might see. There are generally two different kinds of charts and graphs: dynamic and static.
Dynamic charts show data over time and static charts show data at just one point in time. This will affect the type of data we select.
Let’s look at a dynamic chart:
As you can see, the graph is dynamic because it shows data over a period of time. We should therefore look at the general trend over the time period.
First, we should look at what happened from the start (2011) to the end (2014). From the start to the end both lines increased. Then we should look at any other general trends for each of the two lines. We can see the blue line (women) goes up until 2013 and then does down a little. The green line (men) goes up slightly and then has a very large increase between 2012 and 2014.
These are the most striking or most obvious things we can see when first looking at the graph and these are perfect for our overview.
Let’s put this information into a sentence:
Over the entire time period the number of men and women reading books increased. Women saw a steady increase between 2011 and 2013 before declining in 2014, while men increased gradually at first before rocketing up in the last two years.
When we are looking at dynamic graphs we should be looking out for:
- What does the data do from the start to the finish?
- Do they generally go up or down or do they fluctuate?
- Any significant difference from the general trend?
- Overall increase/decrease?
- Peaks/lows?
No let’s look at a static chart:
This chart is different from the last one because there are no dates to look at; it is data from just one point in time. We can therefore not talk about general trends over time.
Instead we are more concerned about comparing the data between the different sources. In this case, we will be comparing the data between countries.
The first thing I notice is that all countries are below 400k except two of them. Switzerland and Australia are the biggest and Singapore and the U.K. are the smallest. Switzerland has almost double the average. There isn’t a significant amount of difference between the bottom 6 countries.
Let’s try and turn the things I’ve noticed above into an overview:
The graph compares eight countries with only a small amount of difference between the bottom 6. Australia and Switzerland have the highest average wealth, with Switzerland averaging nearly double the value of the two bottom countries.
When we look at static graphs we should be looking for:
- What are the highest/lowest values?
- What are the most noticeable differences?
- Any similarities?
- Any significant exceptions?
Is there any special grammar?
You should try and make a complex sentence by making a subordinate clause. Complex sentences are sentences with more than one clause and they help increase our marks in the grammatical range part of the marking criteria.
You can easily make a subordinate clause structure in the overview by joining two pieces of information with the words ‘while’. ‘although’, ‘with’, ‘even though’, ‘whereas’ or ‘and’. However, make sure you know the meaning of these words and how they are correctly used in a sentence.
How does an overview fit into the rest of my essay?
The overview should be the second paragraph of a four paragraph structure:
Paragraph 1- Paraphrase Sentence
Paragraph 2- Overview
Paragraph 3- Details
Paragraph 4- Details
I tell my students to write the overview before the details because it makes it clear to the examiner that you have identified the main features and it also helps you write the details paragraph. In the details paragraphs you will simply take the statements you made in the overview and support them with data.
Shouldn’t I write a conclusion?
No. Conclusions are really a summary of what you think or opinions. This is not an opinion essay and you therefore do not need to write a conclusion. Save your conclusions for task 2.
Example
Below is one final example following the structure I used above. I have highlighted the overview in yellow.
Notice how I have picked out the most significant/noticeable/important features and talked about them very generally in the overview. I have not used any data in the overview. However, I have taken the features from the overview and supported them with data in paragraphs 3 and 4.
I hope you found this post useful and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section below.
For a more detailed post on how to answer IELTS task 1 chart questions, please click the link.
You may also find my grammar guide for IELTS task 1 useful. It has lots of phrases to help you describe data.
The best way to keep up to date with posts like this is to like us on Facebook.
Click here to return to the homepage, or click one of the links below to check out more great IELTS stuff.
Aung Tun Oo says
Will a good task 1 writing carry/cover marks to cover marginally poor task 2 to get band 7?
H.Awais says
very helpful knowledge…
Hafiz Awais.
Kene. ORAZULIKE says
Hello Chris,
I noticed that present tense was used in some part of the US energy consumption by fuel essay, when referring to action being carried out in the past.
For instance, ‘ this trend is set to continue’
another one is ‘ it is speculated that nuclear energy will reach 10q by 2030’
Please sir, kindly explain to me why ‘ is’ was used rather than ‘was’
Thanks.
Vi Ngoc says
These are future forms using passive tense, I guess. For example: “is expected to + verb”, “is forecast to + verb”, “is set to + verb”, “is speculated to + verb”,….
Koos Joubert says
Hi Chris, is there any IELTS Preparation on Writing for the General Test? I need to get a band score of 7, on my last test I got 5.5 for writing, any advice on how to better my scores?
Aeron James Alvero says
Browse this blog and you will see a lot of info re: your concern on how to get a 7 on your GT exam.
UC says
Hi Chris the writing sample you posted is really putting me through to getting a band 7
shahnaz says
so useful and excellent
Duong says
Hi Sir,
Thanks a lot for your very helpful articles. I usually got 6 for task 1 but I immediately got a 7.5 for it after I read and followed this. Your website is very useful for me. Thank you so much!!!
krishna makwana says
very nice and very helpful .. thnak you so much … really hard work…
ejdm says
I am going to adapt this structure for my exam on July 30. I was not able to read this part of your lecture before. I only focus on writing task 2 entries. It really helped me a lot. I was able to get 7.0 in writing in my UKVI exam last June 25 by just reading your blog entries. I think my task 1 hurt my score in writing. I hope this time it’ll help. Thanks IELTS Advantage.
abdullah mahdy says
is the overview paragraph replaces the conclusion ? or should I write both ?
and can I prepare for the ielts in just 2 weeks. my English level is ok.I was studying the SAT and I need score 6 in every section
thanks alot for you effort
Christopher Pell says
No conclusion for Task 1.
Msayed says
Thank you,your website is extremely helpful for me ,especially your unique essay correction service ,you have corrected 3 essay for me and iam planning to submit for another package.
Again about my question related to task1 ;whether conclusion is needed or not? iam surprised to find a model answer published by british council website for ielts preparation including a CONCLUSION!! how can you explain this??? As you can see below!! OR this is not a conclusion but i misunderstand it? because i want to follow a clear structure.
INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING SYSTEM
IELTS Academic Writing Practice Test
WRITING TASK 1 – Model Answer
The bar charts show data about computer ownership, with a further classification by
level of education, from 2002 to 2010.
A steady but significant rise can be seen in the percentage of the population that owned
a computer over the period. Just over half the population owned computers in 2002,
whereas by 2010 three out of four people had a home computer.
An analysis of the data by level of education shows that higher levels of education
correspond to higher levels of computer ownership in both of those years. In 2002, only
around 15% of those who did not finish high school had a computer but this figure had
trebled by 2010. There were also considerable increases, of approximately 30
percentage points, for those with a high school diploma or an unfinished college education (reaching 65% and 85% respectively in 2010). However, graduates and postgraduates proved to have the greatest level of ownership in 2010, at 90% and 95% respectively, 20 percentage points higher than in 2002.
The last decade has seen a substantial growth in computer ownership in general, and
across all educational level. (IS this a CONCLUSION sentence)
Msayed says
Thank you,
Why some teachers advice to write a conclusion instead of overview and claiming that without conclusion we will lose mark,i think it is very strange for this issue to be a debatable subject between teachers ?? although i agree with you that overview is really important.
Christopher Pell says
Because they don’t know what they are talking about.
Thai Hanh says
I feel confused with something in the overview below, please explain for me, Chris.
“The graph compares eight countries with only a small amount of difference between the bottom 6. Australia and Switzerland have the highest average wealth, with Switzerland averaging nearly double the value of the two bottom countries.”
I think that when we compare something of somebody, we use “between” for comparing two people, and “among” for comparing more than two. Is this right or wrong?
I have heard that in writing, we must use letter instead of number when that number is under 10. So in the first sentence above, we must write “six” instead of “6”. Please let me know if it is okay or not?
Thank you very much for your helpful lessons.
T.Hanh
Juliana Benevides says
Thanks, Cristopher! Your website has been very helpful for me. I am going to send you two essays for correction and comments.
ullas says
Hi, I am Ullas K J. I find it very useful, but stil have a quiery that why cant we just add the overview point in our introduction \.
Christopher Pell says
Hi. Because you want to make it clear to the examiner that this is your overview.
Jan says
Wow! This is really helpful! Thank you so much!
Gulnaz says
Thank you very much! It helped a lot!
Toqeer Ahmad says
Yeah, I also think that there is a mistake in the above sentence. I think it should have been:
”Over the entire time period the number BOOKS READ by men and women increased.”
Sara Angeleska says
I’ve just joined roadtoielts.com and I’ve watched a video where one examiner explains that the overview should always be the last paragraph. Is this true?
Also she analyzed one test with line chart about three age groups and how much each group went to the cinema.
The candidate had 5 paragraphs ( paraphrasing, details about one age group, detail about the second age group, details about the third age group and finally an overview)
And she said that the organisation of information was good.
If I was the candidate, following the instructions here I would probably be writing (paraphrasing, overview, main details about most variable age group and fourth paragraph for more main details about another age group, (maybe one sentence about the least important age group) ) Is this approach not good?
jac says
Hi Sir Chris, I was confused on how your overview paragraph is placed in your WT1 because I thought it should always come at the end of the essay. Your reply above answered my query. Thank you Sir! God bless you!
abi says
will it be ok to classify some fuel as fossil fuel and some as renewable even though it is not mentioned on the graph?
Christopher Pell says
Hi Abi. Thanks for your question.These are synonyms of the things in the graph, so you should definitely use them, however, always make sure your synonyms are accurate. If you are not sure, don’t use them. Chris.
Vineel says
Where should I write overview?
in the second paragraph of at the last?
And should i write conclusion in the last?
Christopher Pell says
I normally advise my students to write it in the second paragraph but if you want to put it last, that’s OK too.
No conclusion for task 1 essays.
Roman says
I quote:
The graph shows the NUMBER OF BOOKS read by men and women. The Y graph also says “number of BOOKS”
You write:
Over the entire time period the number of men and women reading books increased.
Im sorry but thats not paraphrasing. There arent any single number on the graph regarding the number of men and women. Just the number of books.
Roman says
Hello
I believe you got the first example with books totally wrong. The title shows the amount of BOOKS read by both sexes, but you describe the amount of MEN and WOMEN who read the books. You misinterpreted the data and did not stay on the topic.
I think you should correct this example because many will do the same mistake, which is unforgivable in IELTS.
Christopher Pell says
Hi Roman.
Thanks for your comment. I think these two statements you refer to are paraphrases of one another and therefore mean the same thing.
I don’t think there is any need for a correction, but please tell me if I’m missing your point.
Thanks
Chris
aditya says
Hello sir Thanq very much
Ur being really a great help for me
Toqeer Ahmad says
Thanks a lot Christopher for this detailed article. It’s really helpful, and hopefully will help me in Task 1. Your blog is one of the best in my opinion as you have explained man aspects of ielts in detail.
ssabzz says
Thank you a lot sir.. I must improve my vocabulary range… hope I’ll soon be over with it. .:)
christopherpell444 says
Thanks for this. Very good effort. The structure is very good and you have spotted the main features. Try to vary your language more by using synonyms e.g. male- men. I have correct some grammar mistakes below.
The chart shows the achievement of various levels of post-school qualifications by both Australian males and females in the year of 1999.
Overall, the chart compares five types of courses with achieving criteria of males and females. Males are advanced in three levels of courses while females are in two courses. The greatest difference between the gender groups is seen in the course of skilled vocational diploma and the lowest difference is shown in bachelor’s degree courses.
Skilled vocational diplomas drew the attention of males by 90%, compared with only 10% of females. In undergraduate diplomas, females achieved the qualification 70% of the time and that was the double males’ achievement. Females were also advanced in bachelor’s degree by 10% than males.
However, both post graduate diploma and master’s degree [drew the attention try to vary your language more] of males higher than females. Males were qualified more than double of females in post graduate degree and a quarter more in master’s degree.
ssabzz says
Dear sir, I’ll be really glad if you check my writing for task one and make me sure of my mistakes and performance.
question:
‘post – school qualifications in Australia according to gender 1999.’
note: numbers are in percent
[skilled vocational diploma – females 10, males 90..
Under graduate diploma – females 70, males 35…
Bachelor’s degree – females 55, males 45…
post graduate diploma – females 30, males 70…
master’s degree – females 40, males 60…]
Answer:
The chart shows the achievement of various levels of post-school qualifications by both Australian males and females in the year of 1999.
Overall, the chart compares among five types of courses with achieving criteria of males and females. males are advanced in three level of courses while females are in two courses. the greatest difference between the gender group is seen in the course of skilled vocational diploma and the lowest difference is shown in bachelor’s degree course.
skilled vocational diploma drew attention of males by 90%, compared with only 10% of females. In undergraduate diploma, females achieved the qualification by 70% and that was the double of males’ achievement. females were also advanced in bachelor’s degree by 10% than males.
however, both post graduate diploma and master’s degree drew the attention of males higher than females. males were qualified more than double of females in post graduate degree and a quarter more in master’s degree.
ssabzz says
Dear sir, I’ll be really glad if you check my writing for task one and make me sure of my mistakes and performance.
question:
‘post – school qualifications in Australia according to gender 1999.’
note: numbers are in percent
[skilled vocational diploma – females 10, males 90..
Under graduate diploma – females 70, males 35…
Bachelor’s degree – females 55, males 45…
post graduate diploma – females 30, males 70…
master’s degree – females 40, males 60…]
Answer:
The chart shows the achievement of various levels of post-school qualifications by both Australian males and females in the year of 1999.
Overall, the chart compares among five types of courses with achieving criteria of males and females. males are advanced in three level of courses while females are in two courses. the greatest difference between the gender group is seen in the course of skilled vocational diploma and the lowest difference is shown in bachelor’s degree course.
skilled vocational diploma drew attention of males by 90%, compared with only 10% of females. In undergraduate diploma, females achieved the qualification by 70% and that was the double of males’ achievement. females were also advanced in bachelor’s degree by 10% than males.
both post graduate diploma and master’s degree drew the attention of males higher than females. males were qualified more than double of females in post graduate degree and a quarter more in master’s degree.
Lemuelle Bryan says
How come most of the Ielts class and writing models that I read have a conclusion at the end of the essay?
christopherpell444 says
It’s not a conclusion. They have just put the overview at the end.
Farid says
Could you please comment on my task 1 first time work))? Thanks.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the worldwide market share of the notebook computer market for manufacturers in the years 2006 and 2007.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Company 2006 % Market Share 2007 % Market Share
HP 31.4 34
Dell 16.6 20.2
Acer 11.6 10.7
Toshiba 6.2 7.3
Lenovo 6.6 6.2
Fujitsu-Siemens 4.8 2.3
Others 22.8 19.3
Total 100 100
The table illustrates the globe sales percentages of the laptop computer market for producers in the years 2006 and 2007.
Overall, except HP. Dell and Toshiba`s sales performance, all other brands` market share slightly decreased from 2006 to 2007. In both years HP leaded the market and also became stronger in 2007. Fujitsu-Siemens saw almost more than a half per cent fall comparing with first years data.
Acer was third with 11.6 per cent market share in 2006, however there was a 0.9 percent drop it has kept its place as same in 2007. HP occupied more than one third of the overall world market in 2006 and with 34 per cent remained on the top in second year.
Fujitsu-Siemens`s market share dropped sharply from 4.8 per cent in 2006 to 2.3 per cent in 2007. Other notebook makers` activity could not reach Dell and Acer together in both two years.
christopherpell444 says
Well done. Good structure and you identified the main features. You made a few grammar mistakes so be careful with this. Have a look at my task 1 grammar guide. Keep practicing.
Farid says
Thank you for all, I have been following your lessons and I find them very useful. I sat in Ielts last year and got 6.0. This time i am going to retake exam on 6 June. My listening and reading was 5.5 and I need at least 6.0. Here is one issue that makes me feel confident, a year ago I got the score without any preparation. This attemt will be successful, I strongly believe.
christopherpell444 says
You should do fine. Keep working hard and good luck. Please let me know how you do. Chris.
marry says
tnx it was so useful but i didn’t get the last one well.why u didn’t speak about the nuclear and… in last paragraph?and can u explain about process.i think that is the hardest in task one.i should take the exam about 2month latter 🙁
christopherpell444 says
I didn’t write about nuclear? I think I did 🙂