Task 2 · Band 8 path
Mixed Charts — Two Visuals, One Report
Not two reports. One report that uses both, with an overview covering each.
Recognise the visual
What this visual type shows, the tense and voice it demands, and the traps that cap it at Band 6.
Not two reports. One report that uses both, with an overview covering each.
Appears regularly and is the type candidates most often mistime.
Also called: Combination task · Two charts · Multiple charts · Combined visuals
Spotting it
How this question is worded
Two visuals side by side under one prompt
One report, 150+ words total — not 150 words each. The word budget is the same as for a single chart, so selection has to be twice as ruthless.
A pie chart beside a table, or a bar chart above a line graph
Two different visual types, so two different sets of language. The pie takes proportion language, the line takes trend language, in the same report.
The two charts share a category or a time period
They are connected, and naming the connection is the highest-scoring sentence available on this question type.
One chart gives totals, the other gives a breakdown
The classic pairing. The totals give you the overview; the breakdown gives you the detail — and together they let you convert a share into an amount, which a single pie never allows.
The rule that decides Task Response
Your overview must cover BOTH visuals — one clause or sentence each. An overview that summarises only the first chart leaves half the data unreported, and Task Achievement is capped on the missing half however well the other is handled. One paragraph per visual after that, and where the two are genuinely connected, say so.
The standard
What a Band 8 answer to this type does
- An introduction that names both visuals and what each one measures, in one sentence.
- An overview with a main feature from each visual.
- One detail paragraph per visual, so both are covered properly.
- The right language for each visual type — proportion language for a pie, trend language for a line.
- A stated connection between the two where the data supports one.
- Ruthless selection: roughly three figures per visual, not six.
Where the band is lost
The 7 traps in this question type
Each of these is a specific, repeatable way to lose marks on this type — not general writing advice.
An overview that covers only one chartTask Achievement capped at 6
This is the defining failure of the combination task. The overview is where you show you took in all the data, and one that describes the pie and ignores the table has demonstrated exactly half of that. Examiners check it directly on this type.
The fix
Write two clauses, one per visual, joined by "while" or "meanwhile". If your overview does not mention both, it is not finished.
Writing two separate mini-reportsCoherence & Cohesion 6 · Task Achievement 6.5
Introduction, overview, detail on chart one, then a second introduction and overview for chart two. It doubles the framing and halves the data, and it usually runs over time and under-develops both halves.
The fix
One introduction, one overview, then one body paragraph per chart. Four paragraphs in total, exactly as on any other Task 1.
Running out of time on the second chartTask Achievement capped at 6
A report that gives the first visual 120 words and the second 30 has not covered the data, and an under-covered half is the same fault as a missing overview. It happens because candidates start writing before budgeting.
The fix
Split the time before you write: five minutes planning both, six minutes on the first paragraph, six on the second, three to check. Write the second chart's paragraph FIRST if you habitually overrun.
The wrong language for one of the visualsLexical Resource 6 · Task Achievement 6.5
Having settled into trend language for the line graph, candidates carry it into the pie chart and write "the share increased" about a single-year breakdown. Each visual needs the language its own type demands, in the same report.
The fix
Treat the two paragraphs as two dialects. Line or time-based bar → rose, fell, fluctuated. Pie or categorical bar → accounted for, made up, the largest share.
Missing the link between the two visualsTask Achievement 6.5 · Coherence 6.5
The charts are almost always chosen because they relate — a total and its breakdown, a cause and an effect, the same categories at two scales. Reporting them as unrelated misses the most valuable observation available and leaves the report feeling like two lists.
The fix
Ask what one chart explains about the other, then write one sentence saying it: "the growth in total demand shown in the first chart was driven almost entirely by the industrial sector, whose share rose from 30% to 48%".
Compression that breaks the sentenceGrammatical Range & Accuracy capped at 6.5
The word budget is half what a single chart gets, so candidates compress — and the commonest casualty is the dangling participle: "Rising sharply, the graph shows demand reached 395 TWh" says the graph rose. The related fault is carrying the tense of one visual into the other, so a single-year pie chart ends up in the past continuous borrowed from the line graph beside it.
The fix
After every participle, check that the thing doing the action is the subject of the main clause. And set the tense separately for each visual: the two paragraphs are in different dialects and may legitimately be in different tenses.
Mixing the units of the two chartsTask Achievement capped at 6.5
One chart is usually in percentages and the other in absolute figures. Treating a 20% share as 20 units, or comparing a percentage from one chart with a count from the other, produces a claim the data does not contain.
The fix
Name the unit with the first figure from each chart, and never compare a number from one with a number from the other unless you convert first.
Quick reference
The Mixed charts at a glance
Your overview must cover BOTH visuals — one clause or sentence each. An overview that summarises only the first chart leaves half the data unreported, and Task Achievement is capped on the missing half however well the other is handled. One paragraph per visual after that, and where the two are genuinely connected, say so.
Appears regularly and is the type candidates most often mistime.
How to recognise this question
- “Two visuals side by side under one prompt”
- One report, 150+ words total — not 150 words each. The word budget is the same as for a single chart, so selection has to be twice as ruthless.
- “A pie chart beside a table, or a bar chart above a line graph”
- Two different visual types, so two different sets of language. The pie takes proportion language, the line takes trend language, in the same report.
- “The two charts share a category or a time period”
- They are connected, and naming the connection is the highest-scoring sentence available on this question type.
- “One chart gives totals, the other gives a breakdown”
- The classic pairing. The totals give you the overview; the breakdown gives you the detail — and together they let you convert a share into an amount, which a single pie never allows.
The four-paragraph structure
Name both visuals and what each measures. Slightly longer than a single-chart introduction, and the only place it is.
One main feature from each visual. Both, always.
The first visual, with about three figures.
The second visual, plus the sentence that links the two.
The traps that cap this type at Band 6
An overview that covers only one chartTask Achievement capped at 6
This is the defining failure of the combination task. The overview is where you show you took in all the data, and one that describes the pie and ignores the table has demonstrated exactly half of that. Examiners check it directly on this type.
Fix: Write two clauses, one per visual, joined by "while" or "meanwhile". If your overview does not mention both, it is not finished.
Writing two separate mini-reportsCoherence & Cohesion 6 · Task Achievement 6.5
Introduction, overview, detail on chart one, then a second introduction and overview for chart two. It doubles the framing and halves the data, and it usually runs over time and under-develops both halves.
Fix: One introduction, one overview, then one body paragraph per chart. Four paragraphs in total, exactly as on any other Task 1.
Running out of time on the second chartTask Achievement capped at 6
A report that gives the first visual 120 words and the second 30 has not covered the data, and an under-covered half is the same fault as a missing overview. It happens because candidates start writing before budgeting.
Fix: Split the time before you write: five minutes planning both, six minutes on the first paragraph, six on the second, three to check. Write the second chart's paragraph FIRST if you habitually overrun.
The wrong language for one of the visualsLexical Resource 6 · Task Achievement 6.5
Having settled into trend language for the line graph, candidates carry it into the pie chart and write "the share increased" about a single-year breakdown. Each visual needs the language its own type demands, in the same report.
Fix: Treat the two paragraphs as two dialects. Line or time-based bar → rose, fell, fluctuated. Pie or categorical bar → accounted for, made up, the largest share.
Missing the link between the two visualsTask Achievement 6.5 · Coherence 6.5
The charts are almost always chosen because they relate — a total and its breakdown, a cause and an effect, the same categories at two scales. Reporting them as unrelated misses the most valuable observation available and leaves the report feeling like two lists.
Fix: Ask what one chart explains about the other, then write one sentence saying it: "the growth in total demand shown in the first chart was driven almost entirely by the industrial sector, whose share rose from 30% to 48%".
Compression that breaks the sentenceGrammatical Range & Accuracy capped at 6.5
The word budget is half what a single chart gets, so candidates compress — and the commonest casualty is the dangling participle: "Rising sharply, the graph shows demand reached 395 TWh" says the graph rose. The related fault is carrying the tense of one visual into the other, so a single-year pie chart ends up in the past continuous borrowed from the line graph beside it.
Fix: After every participle, check that the thing doing the action is the subject of the main clause. And set the tense separately for each visual: the two paragraphs are in different dialects and may legitimately be in different tenses.
Mixing the units of the two chartsTask Achievement capped at 6.5
One chart is usually in percentages and the other in absolute figures. Treating a 20% share as 20 units, or comparing a percentage from one chart with a count from the other, produces a claim the data does not contain.
Fix: Name the unit with the first figure from each chart, and never compare a number from one with a number from the other unless you convert first.
Mixed charts questions — frequently asked
Do I write 150 words for each chart?
No — 150 to 190 words for the whole report, exactly as for a single chart. That is roughly three figures per visual. The commonest way to fail this type is to give the first chart everything and the second thirty words.
Does the overview really have to mention both?
Yes, and it is the single thing that decides the band here. An overview covering one visual leaves half the data unsummarised. Two clauses joined by "while" is all it takes.
Should I link the two charts?
Where the data supports it, yes — it is the highest-value sentence available, because it shows the skill this question type exists to test. Where they are genuinely unrelated, do not invent a link; a false connection costs more than a missing one.
Can I combine figures from the two charts?
Only when one gives a total and the other a share of that same total, and only if the arithmetic is simple. 48% of 420 TWh is "roughly 200 TWh" — hedge it, because the reader can check. Never compare a percentage from one chart with a count from the other.
Next
Once this type is at Band 8, move to another — Line graph, Bar chart, Pie chart — or check a full essay you have written in the Essay Checker
Go deeper on Task 2
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