IELTS Writing Task 1 Multiple Charts: How to Combine Two Visuals
Lalitha from Madurai described a line graph and a pie chart as if they were two separate tasks. Her overview covered just one of them.
When there are two visuals, your overview should cover both, and your detail paragraphs can usually take one visual each. Connect the visuals where the data genuinely relates, but don’t invent links that they do not show.
Why should the overview cover both visuals?
The IELTS website says Academic Task 1 may ask you to describe one or more graphs, charts or tables. IDP IELTS gives a line graph with a pie chart as an example of a combination.
The Band 7 descriptor looks for a clear overview in which the main trends or differences are identified. An overview of one visual leaves the other visual with no summary, so give each visual one main point. Our post on the Task 1 overview shows how.
How do you plan the detail paragraphs?
A simple plan gives one detail paragraph to each visual. Jumping between two charts inside one paragraph makes the writing hard to follow.
This also lets you match the language to the visual. Use trend words for a graph over time, as in our post on the line graph, and share words for a pie chart, as in our post on pie charts.
How do you link the visuals without inventing causes?
Link the visuals through what they show, such as a shared year or category. If one chart shows rising smartphone ownership and another shows growing online shopping, do not say that one caused the other.
Safe linking phrases include “in the same year”, “by 2025” and “at that point”.
Incorrect: “Overall, the number of internet users rose steadily from 2005 to 2025.”
Correct: Overall, the number of internet users rose steadily, and work and study took the largest share of online time in 2025.
Incorrect: “Internet users reached 78 million in 2025 because people loved social networking.”
Correct: In 2025, when internet users reached 78 million, social networking made up 30% of online time.
The ✅ line joins the two visuals through the year, without a reason the data cannot show.
Practice with invented data
Practice task (written for this post)
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table and pie chart below show the number of internet users in Country X between 2005 and 2025, and how internet users spent their online time in 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Invented data for practice (table):
| Year | Internet users (millions) |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2010 | 25 |
| 2015 | 42 |
| 2020 | 60 |
| 2025 | 78 |
Invented data for practice (pie chart, 2025):
| Activity | Share of online time (%) |
|---|---|
| Work and study | 35 |
| Social networking | 30 |
| Video streaming | 20 |
| Shopping and banking | 15 |
| Total | 100 |
Model answer (illustrative Band 7)
The table gives the number of internet users in Country X from 2005 to 2025, and the pie chart shows how those users divided their online time in 2025.
Overall, the number of users rose steadily over the twenty years, reaching more than six times its 2005 level. In 2025, work and study took up the largest share of online time, while shopping and banking took the smallest.
Country X had 12 million internet users in 2005. The figure rose to 25 million in 2010 and 42 million in 2015. Growth then picked up slightly: the number rose by 18 million in each of the last two five-year periods to reach 78 million in 2025, an overall increase of 66 million.
In 2025, when internet users reached 78 million, work and study accounted for 35% of online time and social networking for 30%, so these two activities together made up almost two-thirds of the total. Video streaming took 20%, and shopping and banking took 15%, the smallest share.
Why it works:
- Task Achievement: the overview gives one main point about each visual, and the details select figures from both.
- Coherence and Cohesion: paragraph three covers the table, paragraph four covers the pie chart, and the year 2025 links them.
- Lexical Resource: “gives”, “divided their online time”, “took up” and “accounted for” vary the verbs for data and shares.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: the “when” clause and the “so” clause are used accurately, with consistent past tenses.
Tip
Check the date and unit of each visual separately. Here the table covers 2005 to 2025 but the pie chart covers just 2025.
Key Takeaways
- Give your overview one main point about each visual.
- Give each visual its own detail paragraph.
- Link visuals through a shared year or category, not an invented cause.
- Use trend words for time data and share words for pie charts.
The bottom line: Two visuals still make one answer, so let a shared year or category be the thread that holds them together.