IELTS Writing Task 1 Pie Chart

Two practice pie charts in the style of Academic Writing Task 1, with a model answer, the language of shares and percentages, and the slips that cost marks on pie charts. Write your report first, then put the charts and your report into the checker for a band on all four criteria.

The practice task

The pie charts below show how students travelled to Lanport University in 2010 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Two pie charts of how students travelled to Lanport University. 2010: car 38%, bus 27%, walking 15%, train 12%, bicycle 8%. 2025: bicycle 27%, bus 24%, train 18%, car 17%, walking 14%. — Original practice charts with made-up figures, not a real test question. Tap the picture to see it full size.

How to write a pie chart report

Introduction (one sentence). What the charts show, who, where and which years, in your own words.
Overview (two or three sentences). The biggest and smallest shares and the biggest changes between the charts, with no percentages.
Body paragraph 1. The categories that changed most, comparing the two years side by side.
Body paragraph 2. The categories that changed less, again comparing the two years.

With two pies, compare across the charts rather than describing one pie and then the other. Here the main features are: the car fell from first place to fourth, cycling rose from last to first, the train grew, and the bus and walking hardly moved.

Model answer

Try the task yourself before reading this. 156 words.

The pie charts compare how students travelled to Lanport University in 2010 and in 2025.

Overall, the car went from the most common way of getting to university to one of the least common, while cycling did the opposite, rising from last place to first. Bus travel and walking changed little, and the share of students taking the train grew.

In 2010, 38% of students drove to campus, well ahead of the 27% who took the bus. By 2025, the proportion of drivers had fallen by more than half, to 17%. Cycling grew even more dramatically, from just 8% to 27%, which made the bicycle the most popular choice.

The other three methods were more stable. The bus remained an important option, used by 24% of students in 2025 compared with 27% fifteen years earlier, and walking hardly changed (15% and 14%). Meanwhile, the share of students arriving by train went up from 12% to 18%.

Why this answer works

The overview ranks before it measures: first and last place, and which way each category moved, without a single percentage.
It compares the two years in every sentence instead of describing the 2010 chart and then the 2025 chart.
Big changes come first. The car and the bicycle get their own paragraph; the stable categories share the second.
It varies the language of shares: "the proportion of drivers", "used by 24% of students", "the share of students arriving by train".
The past perfect ("had fallen by more than half") shows the change up to 2025, and the rest stays in the past simple.
The figures back up the overview: each percentage proves a point already made, such as drivers falling "by more than half".

Pie chart vocabulary for IELTS

Meaning	Words	Example from this task
A share	accounted for, made up, represented	The car made up 38% of the total in 2010.
Fractions	a quarter, just over a third, nearly two-fifths	Nearly two-fifths of students drove in 2010.
Biggest and smallest	the largest share, the most popular, the least common	By 2025 the bicycle was the most popular choice.
Change between pies	rose from ... to ..., fell by ... percentage points	Train travel rose from 12% to 18%.
Almost no change	hardly changed, remained stable at about	Walking remained stable at about 15%.
Comparing shares	twice as many, more than three times as large	The share of cyclists was more than three times as large in 2025.

Percentages and percentage points are not the same: a rise from 12% to 18% is 6 percentage points, but it is a 50% increase in that share. When in doubt, give both figures ("from 12% to 18%").

Pie chart mistakes that cost the most marks

Describing each pie separately. Two paragraphs of "In 2010 ... In 2025 ..." hide the comparison the task asks for.
Listing every slice. Group the stable categories into one sentence and spend your words on the big changes.
Percent and percentage points mixed up. "Train use rose by 6%" is wrong when the share went from 12% to 18%.
Calling a share a number. 27% of students cycled; the chart doesn't tell you how many students that was.
Explaining the change. "Because petrol became expensive" is your idea, not the chart's.
No overview. Without one, Task Achievement usually stays at 5, however accurate the figures are.

More Academic Task 1 practice: the line graph, map, bar chart and table. Process diagrams can also be checked on the Task 1 checker, and General Training has its own letter practice. For what each band needs, read the Task Achievement band descriptors, explained.

Questions

How do I describe two pie charts in IELTS?

Compare them category by category: put the 2010 and 2025 figures for the same category in one sentence, and organise paragraphs by size of change. Describing one pie and then the other is the most common reason pie chart reports lose Task Achievement marks.

Should I write every percentage?

No. Give the figures that support your overview: the largest and smallest shares and the biggest changes. Stable categories can share one sentence.

What is the difference between percent and percentage points?

A change in a share is measured in percentage points: 12% to 18% is a rise of 6 percentage points. Saying it rose by 50% is also true, because 6 is half of 12, but it means something different.

Which tense should I use?

The tense of the years shown. These charts are both in the past, so the past simple, with the past perfect for a change up to the later year. Charts with future dates need "is expected to" or "is projected to".

Is this a real IELTS question?

No. It's an original practice task with made-up figures, written in the style of Academic Writing Task 1. Real test questions aren't published in advance.

Can the checker read my own pie chart?

Yes. On the IELTS Writing Task 1 checker, upload a screenshot or photo of the chart, then paste your report. Keep the labels and percentages readable.