IELTS Writing Task 1 Table
A practice table in the style of Academic Writing Task 1, with four columns of different kinds of data, a model answer, and the way to pick out what matters from a grid of numbers. Write your report first, then put the table and your report into the checker for a band on all four criteria.
The practice task
The table below gives information about visitors to four museums in Halvern in 2015 and 2025, the share of overseas visitors and the price of entry. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
How to write a table report
- Introduction (one sentence). Say what the table covers. When the columns hold different kinds of data, name each kind briefly.
- Overview (two sentences). The biggest pattern in the main data and the clearest exception. No figures.
- Body paragraph 1. The rows that follow the main pattern, with their figures.
- Body paragraph 2. The exception, and the other columns compared across rows.
A table gives you every number with equal weight, so the work is choosing. Read down each column before you write and mark the highest, the lowest and anything that goes the other way. Here: three museums gained visitors, the Science Museum stayed the most popular, and the Art Gallery lost visitors but had the most overseas visitors.
Model answer
Try the task yourself before reading this. 185 words.
The table gives information about the number of visitors to four museums in Halvern in 2015 and 2025, the share of overseas visitors in 2025, and the cost of entry.
Overall, three of the four museums attracted more visitors over the decade, with the Science Museum remaining the most popular. The Art Gallery was the exception: its visitor numbers fell, yet it had by far the highest proportion of visitors from abroad.
The Science Museum saw the largest increase, from 420,000 visitors in 2015 to 610,000 in 2025. The History Museum also grew, from 250,000 to 330,000, and the Toy Museum, although the smallest, almost doubled its numbers, rising from 90,000 to 160,000.
In contrast, visits to the Art Gallery dropped from 380,000 to 290,000, which moved it from second place to third. However, just over half of its visitors (52%) came from overseas, compared with 35% at the Science Museum and only 18% and 9% at the History and Toy Museums. Entry to the Science and History Museums was free, whereas adults paid £12 at the Art Gallery and £6 at the Toy Museum.
Why this answer works
- The introduction names all three kinds of data (visitor numbers, the overseas share and the entry price), so nothing in the body comes as a surprise.
- Units are converted correctly: "420" in a column headed "thousands" becomes 420,000 visitors.
- Rows are grouped by behaviour: the three museums that grew share a paragraph; the one that shrank gets the next.
- Rankings add meaning: "from second place to third" says more than the two figures alone.
- The price column is reported, not used as a reason. The table doesn't say that the ticket price caused the fall, so the report doesn't either.
- Smaller columns are covered briefly in one comparative sentence each, instead of a sentence per museum.
Table vocabulary for IELTS
| Meaning | Words | Example from this task |
|---|---|---|
| Rank | the most popular, in second place, the least visited | The Science Museum remained the most popular. |
| Increase | saw an increase, rose from ... to ..., almost doubled | The Toy Museum almost doubled its visitor numbers. |
| Decrease | dropped, fell, saw a decline | Visits to the Art Gallery dropped to 290,000. |
| Shares | just over half, the proportion of, accounted for | Just over half of its visitors came from overseas. |
| Contrast | in contrast, whereas, the exception | The Art Gallery was the exception. |
| Prices | was free, cost, adults paid | Adults paid £12 at the Art Gallery. |
Watch the column headings: "thousands" turns 420 into 420,000, and a percentage column describes a share, not a number of people. Round sensibly ("just over half" for 52%) and keep the exact figure in brackets when it matters.
Table mistakes that cost the most marks
- Copying the table into sentences. Row by row, every number, with no selection, is the most common way to stay at band 5.
- Ignoring the units. "420 visitors" from a column in thousands is a factual error.
- Treating a percentage as a number of people. 52% overseas tells you the share, not how many.
- Leaving out whole columns. Every kind of data in the table needs at least a brief mention.
- Turning a column into a cause. "Fewer people went because tickets cost £12" is a guess the table doesn't support.
- An overview made of numbers. "The Science Museum had 610,000 visitors" is a detail; the overview should say that three museums grew and one shrank.
More Academic Task 1 practice: the line graph, pie chart, map and bar chart. 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.