Task 2 · Band 8 path
Line Graph — Change Over Time
Group the lines, name the trend, and keep the tense the data is in.
Recognise the visual
What this visual type shows, the tense and voice it demands, and the traps that cap it at Band 6.
Group the lines, name the trend, and keep the tense the data is in.
The most commonly set Academic Task 1 visual, and the one most other types borrow their language from.
Also called: Line chart · Trend graph · Multiple line graph
Spotting it
How this question is worded
The graph below shows … between 1990 and 2020
Two dates in the prompt mean change over time. The report is built around direction and rate of change, and every verb is in the past.
… over a period of ten years
A completed period. Past simple throughout, and the shape of the whole period matters more than any single year.
… and predicted figures for 2035
A projection. Everything up to today stays in the past; everything after it takes "is expected to" or "is projected to". Mixing them is a grammar error the examiner will see immediately.
The graph shows the percentage of …
The unit is a percentage, not a count. "The number of people rose to 40%" is a unit error that costs Task Achievement.
The rule that decides Task Response
Your overview must state the overall direction of every line and which line is highest and lowest across the whole period — not the value of any single year. A report that has no overview, or whose overview only repeats one data point, cannot meet the Task Achievement descriptors however accurate the rest of it is.
The standard
What a Band 8 answer to this type does
- An introduction that paraphrases what is measured, in what units, over what period — in one sentence.
- An overview that names the overall movement and the rank order, with no supporting figures.
- Data grouped by behaviour (the lines that rise together, the line that does not), never narrated year by year.
- Selected figures — four to six that carry the point — quoted accurately, with the rest left out.
- Comparison throughout: every figure set against another figure or against its own earlier value.
- Past simple for completed data, with projections marked by a modal or "is expected to".
Where the band is lost
The 6 traps in this question type
Each of these is a specific, repeatable way to lose marks on this type — not general writing advice.
No overview, or an overview made of numbersTask Achievement capped at 5
The overview is the paragraph the examiner reads to decide whether you understood the data at all. A report that goes straight from the introduction into figures has not shown that understanding, and an "overview" that says "In 2005 sales were 4.5 million" is a detail sentence wearing the wrong hat.
The fix
Write the overview before the detail paragraphs. Two sentences: where everything went, and who was highest and lowest. Delete every number from it.
Narrating the line year by yearTask Achievement 6 · Coherence 6
"In 1990 it was 20. In 1995 it was 25. In 2000 it was 31." This lists the graph rather than reporting it, and the descriptors reward selecting and comparing key features, not transcribing all of them. It also produces a paragraph with no topic sentence, which costs Coherence separately.
The fix
Group first. One paragraph for the lines that behave alike, one for the line that behaves differently — and open each with a sentence that names the behaviour before any figure appears.
Present simple for finished dataGrammatical Range & Accuracy capped at 6
A graph ending in 2020 describes events that are over. "The number increases sharply in 2015" is not a stylistic choice, it is a tense error, and because it repeats in every sentence of the report it reads as a systematic failure of control rather than a slip.
The fix
Set the tense once, from the last date on the axis. Completed period → past simple everywhere. Only the framing verb ("the graph shows") stays present.
Verb and adverb swapped with adjective and nounLexical Resource capped at 6.5
"Sales increased a sharp rise" and "there was a sharply increase" are the two halves of the same mistake: the trend can be a verb with an adverb, or a noun with an adjective, and the parts are not interchangeable. It is the single most common lexical error in Task 1 because the words are learned as a vocabulary list rather than as two grammatical patterns.
The fix
Learn them as two shapes, never as words. VERB + ADVERB: "sales rose sharply". ADJECTIVE + NOUN: "there was a sharp rise in sales". Write one, then check which shape you are in.
Explaining whyTask Achievement 6
A line graph shows what happened, never why. "Numbers fell in 2020 because of the pandemic" adds information the data does not contain, and the descriptors require you to report the given data, not to speculate beyond it.
The fix
Describe the movement and stop. If you want a "because", make it internal to the data: "the fall was driven by the sharp drop in the largest category".
Preposition drift after a trend wordGrammatical Range & Accuracy 6.5
"Rose to 30%" and "rose by 30%" mean completely different things, and "an increase of 30%" and "an increase in unemployment" answer different questions. Getting these wrong misreports the data as well as breaking the grammar, so one slip can cost two criteria.
The fix
Three rules, no exceptions: FROM the old value TO the new one, BY the size of the change, and IN whatever is being measured.
Quick reference
The Line graph at a glance
Your overview must state the overall direction of every line and which line is highest and lowest across the whole period — not the value of any single year. A report that has no overview, or whose overview only repeats one data point, cannot meet the Task Achievement descriptors however accurate the rest of it is.
The most commonly set Academic Task 1 visual, and the one most other types borrow their language from.
How to recognise this question
- “The graph below shows … between 1990 and 2020”
- Two dates in the prompt mean change over time. The report is built around direction and rate of change, and every verb is in the past.
- “… over a period of ten years”
- A completed period. Past simple throughout, and the shape of the whole period matters more than any single year.
- “… and predicted figures for 2035”
- A projection. Everything up to today stays in the past; everything after it takes "is expected to" or "is projected to". Mixing them is a grammar error the examiner will see immediately.
- “The graph shows the percentage of …”
- The unit is a percentage, not a count. "The number of people rose to 40%" is a unit error that costs Task Achievement.
The four-paragraph structure
Say what the graph measures, in what units, over what period — in your own words.
State the big picture: where everything went, and who led and trailed. No figures.
The first group of lines, with the few figures that prove the point.
Everything the first paragraph left out, grouped on a different principle.
The traps that cap this type at Band 6
No overview, or an overview made of numbersTask Achievement capped at 5
The overview is the paragraph the examiner reads to decide whether you understood the data at all. A report that goes straight from the introduction into figures has not shown that understanding, and an "overview" that says "In 2005 sales were 4.5 million" is a detail sentence wearing the wrong hat.
Fix: Write the overview before the detail paragraphs. Two sentences: where everything went, and who was highest and lowest. Delete every number from it.
Narrating the line year by yearTask Achievement 6 · Coherence 6
"In 1990 it was 20. In 1995 it was 25. In 2000 it was 31." This lists the graph rather than reporting it, and the descriptors reward selecting and comparing key features, not transcribing all of them. It also produces a paragraph with no topic sentence, which costs Coherence separately.
Fix: Group first. One paragraph for the lines that behave alike, one for the line that behaves differently — and open each with a sentence that names the behaviour before any figure appears.
Present simple for finished dataGrammatical Range & Accuracy capped at 6
A graph ending in 2020 describes events that are over. "The number increases sharply in 2015" is not a stylistic choice, it is a tense error, and because it repeats in every sentence of the report it reads as a systematic failure of control rather than a slip.
Fix: Set the tense once, from the last date on the axis. Completed period → past simple everywhere. Only the framing verb ("the graph shows") stays present.
Verb and adverb swapped with adjective and nounLexical Resource capped at 6.5
"Sales increased a sharp rise" and "there was a sharply increase" are the two halves of the same mistake: the trend can be a verb with an adverb, or a noun with an adjective, and the parts are not interchangeable. It is the single most common lexical error in Task 1 because the words are learned as a vocabulary list rather than as two grammatical patterns.
Fix: Learn them as two shapes, never as words. VERB + ADVERB: "sales rose sharply". ADJECTIVE + NOUN: "there was a sharp rise in sales". Write one, then check which shape you are in.
Explaining whyTask Achievement 6
A line graph shows what happened, never why. "Numbers fell in 2020 because of the pandemic" adds information the data does not contain, and the descriptors require you to report the given data, not to speculate beyond it.
Fix: Describe the movement and stop. If you want a "because", make it internal to the data: "the fall was driven by the sharp drop in the largest category".
Preposition drift after a trend wordGrammatical Range & Accuracy 6.5
"Rose to 30%" and "rose by 30%" mean completely different things, and "an increase of 30%" and "an increase in unemployment" answer different questions. Getting these wrong misreports the data as well as breaking the grammar, so one slip can cost two criteria.
Fix: Three rules, no exceptions: FROM the old value TO the new one, BY the size of the change, and IN whatever is being measured.
Line graph questions — frequently asked
Where exactly should the overview go?
Immediately after the introduction, as its own paragraph. Some teachers put it last; the examiner will find it either way, but second is safer because a report that runs out of time still has one. Never leave it as a sentence inside another paragraph.
Should the overview really contain no numbers at all?
As a working rule, yes. The descriptors ask for the main features to be selected and summarised, and a figure is by definition a detail. If a single number genuinely IS the main feature — a total that doubled, a line that hit zero — one is defensible. Two means you are writing a detail paragraph.
How many figures should the whole report contain?
Four to six, well chosen and all compared, beats fifteen listed. You are marked on selection, so leaving data out is part of the skill, not a gap.
What if the graph includes future projections?
Split the tense. Everything up to the present stays past simple; the projected part takes "is expected to", "is projected to" or "will". Mixing them is the error the examiner is watching for on this variant.
Do I need a conclusion?
No. An Academic Task 1 report ends with the data. A conclusion repeats the overview at best, and at worst adds an opinion, which the task does not ask for and the descriptors do not reward.
Can I say why the numbers changed?
No. The graph shows what happened, not why, and any cause you supply came from you rather than the data. The only safe "because" is one internal to the figures: "the overall fall was driven by the collapse in the largest category".
Next
Once this type is at Band 8, move to another — Bar chart, Pie chart, Table — or check a full essay you have written in the Essay Checker
Go deeper on Task 2
- Band 9 vs Band 6.5 sample answersThe same question answered twice, compared criterion by criterion
- How IELTS Writing is markedWhat each of the four criteria actually rewards
- More Task 2 questionsA large bank of practice prompts by topic
- Timed writing mock testTask 1 and Task 2 in 60 minutes, marked like the exam