Harpreet from Amritsar wrote nine percentages in a row. The examiner still couldn’t tell which share was largest.

Pie charts show parts of a whole, so describe proportions: the largest and smallest shares, and how they compare or change between charts. Phrases like “just over a quarter” make your figures easier to follow.

One pie chart or several?

A single pie chart is a snapshot of one whole. Say which slice is largest, which is smallest, and how the others rank.

With two or more pie charts, you also need to describe changes in share between the charts. Compare the slices within each chart first, then say which shares grew, shrank or stayed level.

Which language describes shares?

Purpose Useful language
The largest share the largest share, the biggest proportion
The smallest share the smallest share, the lowest proportion
Describing a share accounted for, made up, took up, went on
Comparing shares twice as large as, whereas, in contrast to
A change in share rose by 7 percentage points, fell slightly

You can turn a figure into a fraction: 26% is “just over a quarter” and 52% is “just over half”. Our post on numbers and approximations lists more of these phrases and explains why a rise from 35% to 42% is 7 percentage points, not 7 per cent.

Practice with invented data

Practice task (written for this post)

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts below show how the council of Town A spent its budget on five areas in 2010 and 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:

Area of spending 2010 (%) 2025 (%)
Public transport 35 42
Road infrastructure 25 16
Waste management 18 20
Parks and recreation 12 14
Community policing 10 8
Total 100 100

Model answer (illustrative Band 7)

The two pie charts compare how the council of Town A divided its budget between five areas in 2010 and 2025.

Overall, public transport took the largest share in both years and grew further, whereas road infrastructure showed the biggest fall. Community policing had the smallest share in both years, while waste management and parks and recreation changed only slightly.

In 2010, public transport accounted for 35% of spending, just over a third, and was already the largest area. By 2025, this share had risen by 7 percentage points to 42%, more than double the 20% spent on waste management, the next largest area. By contrast, the share for road infrastructure fell by 9 percentage points, from a quarter (25%) to 16%, so it dropped from second place to third.

Waste management rose slightly, from 18% to 20%, and parks and recreation also increased a little, from 12% to 14%. Community policing was the only other area to lose share, falling from 10% to 8%.

Why it works:

  • Task Achievement: the overview names the largest share, the biggest fall and the slight changes, and the details use selected figures.
  • Coherence and Cohesion: paragraph three groups the two areas with the largest changes, and paragraph four deals with the other three.
  • Lexical Resource: “accounted for”, “just over a third”, “a quarter” and “more than double” vary how shares are described.
  • Grammatical Range and Accuracy: past simple and past perfect are mixed, with “so” and “whereas” clauses.

Is it “the majority”?

“Majority” means more than half. A slice of 35% or 40% may be the largest share, but it is not a majority. Our lesson on quantifiers covers words such as “a majority of”.

Incorrect: “The majority 35% was spent on public transport.”

Correct: The largest share, just over a third, went on public transport.

How should the answer be organised?

A simple plan has four paragraphs: a one-sentence introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. Your overview should name the largest slice and the main change, as our post on the Task 1 overview explains. Then link the figures with comparison structures.

Tip

Before you finish, tick off three things: the largest slice, the smallest slice and the biggest change in share.

Key Takeaways

  • Report proportions and changes in share, not a list of percentages.
  • One chart needs ranked shares. Two or more charts need changes in share.
  • Reserve “majority” for a share above half.
  • Write “percentage points” for the gap between two percentages.
  • Name the largest and smallest slices in your overview.

The bottom line: Rank the slices by size or by change, and let the percentages prove the ranking.