Writing tool
IELTS Academic Task 1 — phrase bank
Academic Task 1 rewards precise, varied language for describing data. Memorise these chunks until they are automatic, then deploy them in any chart, graph, table, map, or process.
Interactive practice lab
Turn IELTS Academic Task 1 — phrase bank into active practice.
Short activities built directly from this writing tool. Drag, decide, match, and recall until the language becomes usable.
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Sort the language by purpose
Drag each phrase into its best group. On touch screens, tap a phrase and then tap a destination.
Phrase tray
Reference library
Study the examples, then replay the activity.
Use the full reference below when an answer in the practice lab feels uncertain.
Trend verbs (upward)
Sharp / fast
- • soared
- • surged
- • rocketed
- • shot up
- • jumped
Steady / gradual
- • rose steadily
- • climbed gradually
- • increased modestly
- • edged up
Trend verbs (downward)
Sharp / fast
- • plummeted
- • plunged
- • collapsed
- • slumped
- • tumbled
Steady / gradual
- • declined steadily
- • dropped gradually
- • fell modestly
- • tapered off
Adverbs of degree
Strong change
- • dramatically
- • sharply
- • significantly
- • considerably
- • markedly
Small change
- • slightly
- • marginally
- • modestly
- • gently
No change
- • remained stable at
- • levelled off at
- • plateaued at
- • stayed constant
Comparison structures
Higher / lower
- • X was almost twice as high as Y.
- • Y accounted for roughly a third of X.
- • X exceeded Y by approximately 20 percentage points.
- • Y trailed X throughout the period.
Same as
- • X and Y followed almost identical patterns.
- • Both categories grew at a comparable rate.
Overview rules (this is where bands are won)
- Always include one sentence opening the second paragraph with "Overall, …" or "In general, …".
- Cover the 2 to 3 biggest trends — do not list numbers in the overview.
- Mention the start and end position when describing a trend.
- Group similar items together rather than describing each line separately.
Before / after sentence upgrades
The number of people went up a lot.
The figure surged from 200 to 850 over the period.
It went down then went up.
After a steady decline to 120 in 2018, the figure recovered sharply, peaking at 310 in 2024.
X is more than Y.
Spending on X was approximately three times higher than spending on Y.
Editorial details and primary sources
By FluentMock Editorial Team · Published 2026-06-13 · Updated 2026-06-28 · Official sources checked
- IELTS test format — IELTS
- IELTS scoring in detail — IELTS
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