By English Test Coach · Updated
Academic Task 1 · Charts and data
How people travel to work
An original IELTS practice question with a planning route and a sample answer to learn from.
Aim for at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. Suggested practice level: intermediate, not a predicted band.
Your writing task
The table shows the percentages of commuters using three main methods of travel to work in three towns in 2010 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Open full-size diagram (new tab)Read the chart data as a table
These figures belong to the original English Test Coach practice visual. They are fictional teaching data, not measured statistics about real places.
| Town and year | Car | Bus | Bicycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford, 2010 | 70 | 20 | 10 |
| Ashford, 2025 | 45 | 30 | 25 |
| Brookton, 2010 | 60 | 35 | 5 |
| Brookton, 2025 | 45 | 40 | 15 |
| Cedar, 2010 | 70 | 15 | 15 |
| Cedar, 2025 | 45 | 25 | 30 |
Each town-year row totals 100%. These are proportions of commuters, so they do not establish how many people travelled by each method. A change from 70% to 45% is a fall of 25 percentage points.
How to approach this question
Give an overview of the main patterns and support selected comparisons with accurate figures and units.
Table reports: compare shares, trends and rankings →
Overview selection: identify the common direction of change for cars, buses and bicycles. Compare the largest category in each town at the end; do not confuse shares with numbers of commuters.
Detail grouping: compare the fall in car use first, then the gains in bus and bicycle shares. Subtract percentages to describe percentage-point changes and keep the two years distinct.
These are possible directions, not required opinions or facts to memorise. Develop your own response and check every claim against the task.
A possible plan
- Introduction: identify what is shown, including the time period or stages where relevant.
- Overview: select the largest changes, main contrasts or overall process without inventing causes.
- Details 1: group related features and support them with accurate data, locations or stages.
- Details 2: cover the remaining main features and make relevant comparisons. Check units, dates and direction of change.
Vocabulary you can use precisely
Choose language that fits your meaning. You do not need to include every phrase.
- percentage points
- The arithmetic difference between two percentages.
Ashford's car share fell by 25 percentage points, from 70% to 45%.
- the same proportion
- An equal share of the total in the groups being compared.
Cars accounted for the same proportion of commuters in all three towns in 2025.
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