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 above 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.

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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.

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.

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?

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.

Ielts General Writing Test Sample

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.

Source: Cambridge English IELTS Past Papers.

Next Steps

I hope you found this post useful! If you have any questions please let me know in the comments section below.

Alternatively, always feel free to email us here: chris@ieltsadvantage.com.

You may also find my grammar guide for IELTS task 1 useful. It has lots of phrases to help you describe data.

For more help with IELTS Writing Task 1, check out my video lesson below:

IELTS writing Task 1 is different for the IELTS General test and IELTS Academic test. In the general exam you need to write a letter such as an invitation to a friend, a complaint, an apology, making an arrangement, an application or something informative like a newsletter.

The IELTS academic exam writing task 1 consists of 6 types of charts such as process diagrams, maps, bar charts, pie charts, tables or line graphs. You will need to write a report about one of these, but remember it is very different to writing task 2, it is not an ‘essay’ it is a factual report.

In academic task 1 there must be an overview and a factual description of the main parts of the task, no opinion is given and do not write a conclusion for this type of task. This part of the test is worth one third of your marks for the writing section, writing task 2 is worth much more in marks.

You only have about 20 minutes to complete writing task 1. For tips and advice on word count in task 1 writing click this link here to find out more.

IELTS General Writing Task 1 Lessons

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Lessons

Grammar and vocabulary:

Maps:

Process Diagrams:

Bar charts:

Line graphs:

Pie Charts:

Sample Ielts Writing Task 1

Tables:

1. Line Graph

2. Pie Charts

3. Process Diagram

4. Maps

Ielts Writing Pdf

5. Bar Chart

Ielts Writing Task 2 Pdf

6. Table

Ielts General Writing Task 1

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