IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary (Complete List)

Lar Ryan AvatarbyLar Ryan

Finding and learning all the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary you need can be exhausting.

But IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary is actually the most valuable, as graphs appear in over 75% of Task 1 questions.

In this lesson, I’ll teach you all the words you need to describe any Task 1 graph accurately.

The essential list of IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary in this lesson will without a doubt push up your Lexical Resource score.

You’ll learn;

Basic IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary

As the British Council explains here, you mustn’t repeat the same words too often if you want a high Lexical Resource score.

This is why you’ll find so many IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary synonyms to describe the images below.

Increasing Categories

Having the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary to describe increases is a must.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies increased from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies grew from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies rose from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies climbed from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies went up from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was an increase in the number of people watching TV and movies.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a growth in the number of people watching TV and movies.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a rise in the number of people watching TV and movies.

Decreasing Categories

You'll need a variety of vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 1 to describe decreases.
  • The number of people playing video games decreased from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing video games declined from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing video games dropped from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing video games fell from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing video games went down from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a decrease in the number of people playing video games.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a decline in the number of people playing video games.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a drop in the number of people playing video games.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a fall in the number of people playing video games.

Stable Categories

Having the IELTS vocabulary for Writing Task 1 when there are stable lines is necessary although you won't find any question with a completely stable line from start to finish like this one.
  • The number of people playing music stayed at the same level from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing music was constant from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing music remained stable from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people playing music remained unchanged from 1980 to 2020.

Fluctuating Categories

You'll definitely need to learn the Writing Task 1 IELTS vocabulary for categories that fluctuate.
  • The number of people studying fluctuated from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there were fluctuations in the number of people studying.

As the British Council explains, you must learn all of this vocabulary before your test if you need a high score.

Descriptive IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary

Now that you know the basics, you need to learn adverbs and adjectives that that will allow you to be more descriptive.

But first, we must understand the difference between rate and amount.

Rate vs Amount

To help you understand, let’s look at these two images.

IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary needs to be divided into adjectives and adverbs of rate and of amount.

Even though both hills are 1 km high, we can see that they climb upwards at different rates.

The rate is how steep the hills are, and the amount is the 1 km climb.

You can see how this applies to a Task 1 question in the image below.

If you can't tell the difference between rate and amount, you could easily use your vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 1 incorrectly.

Don’t worry!

You don’t need to know the exact angle (∠) to describe the rate.

You’ll just describe the rate in a general way, using the adverbs and adjectives below.

Adverbs of Rate

  • steeply
  • rapidly
  • gradually
  • slowly

Adjectives of Rate

  • steep
  • rapid
  • gradual
  • slow

Adverbs of amount

  • dramatically
  • substantially
  • significantly
  • considerably
  • modestly
  • moderately
  • slightly
  • marginally

Adjectives of amount

  • dramatic
  • substantial
  • significant
  • considerable
  • modest
  • moderate
  • slight
  • marginal

So why do we need to separate rate from amount?

Because adverbs and adjectives of rate can only be used with some graphs.

We can only use them when we see the angle (∠) of the increase or decrease.

For example, the way the information is presented in the bar graph and line graph below allows us to see the angle (∠) of increase or decrease for each category.

However, the pie charts and table only show numbers, so no angles are visible.

Therefore, we can only use the adverbs and adjectives of rate with the bar graph and the line graph.

These charts can use IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary that describe rate or amount.
These questions can only use IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary that describe amount.

On the other hand, we can see the amount of change in all four questions above.

That means we can use adverbs and adjectives of amount with all chart types.

A side note that you might find interesting is that all four graphs above represent the same information.

Examples of Descriptive IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary

Even though there are several suitable adverbs and adjectives in each of the descriptions below, we never use more than one.

Increasing Categories

Now you have the IELTS vocabulary for Writing Task 1 to be more descriptive when discussing increases.
  • The number of people watching TV and movies increased steeply/rapidly/dramatically/substantially/significantly/considerably from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a steep/rapid/dramatic/substantial/significant/considerable increase in the number of people watching TV and movies.
  • The number of people reading books increased modestly/moderately from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a modest/moderate increase in the number of people reading books.
  • The number of people working out increased gradually/slowly/slightly/marginally from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a gradual/slow/slight/marginal increase in the number of people working out.

Decreasing Categories

With this IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary, your essays will be more descriptive.
  • The number of people baking decreased gradually/slowly/slightly/marginally from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a gradual/slow/slight/marginal decrease in the number of people baking.
  • The number of people gardening decreased modestly/moderately from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a modest/moderate decrease in the number of people gardening.
  • The number of people playing video games decreased steeply/rapidly/dramatically/substantially/significantly/considerably from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there was a steep/rapid/dramatic/substantial/significant/considerable decrease in the number of people playing video games.

Big or No Rate Changes in Categories

In the next set, we will look at adverbs and adjectives you can use when there’s a big change in the rate (suddenly/sharply/sudden/sharp) and adverbs and adjectives for when there is no change in the rate (steadily/consistently/steady/consistent).

You know have the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary to describe a change or a lack of change in rate.

  • The number of people doing woodwork increased by about 10 from 1980 to 1990 and suddenly/sharply increased to 200 people in 2000. After that, it steadily/consistently decreased until 2020.
  • From 1980 to 1990, there was an increase of about 10 in the number of people doing woodwork, and there was a sudden/sharp increase to 200 people in 2000. After that, there was a steady/consistent decrease.

Stable Trends & Fluctuations

And now, adverbs and adjectives to describe stable trends and fluctuations.

Without this vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 1, it would be difficult to clearly communicate the type of fluctuations you see in the question.
  • The number of people playing music remained completely stable from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people studying remained relatively stable from 1980 to 2020.
  • The number of people studying fluctuated slightly from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there were slight fluctuations in the number of people studying.
  • The number of people playing board games fluctuated wildly/considerably/substantially from 1980 to 2020.
  • From 1980 to 2020, there were wild/considerable/substantial fluctuations in the number of people playing board games.

IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary for Estimates

Sometimes, the questions will show you exact numbers, like in the table below.

For questions like this, just copy the number into your essay.

There's no need for any special Writing Task 1 IELTS vocabulary when the question clearly states the figures for each category.

However, some questions don’t show the numbers like this, and you need to use the y-axis to estimate, such as in the line graph below.

Because the exact figures aren't written on the graph, you'll need IELTS vocabulary for Writing Task 1 that allows you to estimate the number.

For graphs like this, you can never be 100% sure what the number is.

To make sure we are correct, we use approximations.

You will find examples of these below.

IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary for approximations are absolutely essential for this type of graph.
  • The number of people painting in 1980 was approximately/roughly/about/around 100.
  • The number of people painting in 2000 was approximately/roughly/about/around/just above/just over 100.
  • The number of people painting in 2020 was approximately/roughly/about/around/almost/just below/just under/nearly 100.

You can see that some of these words were only used when ‘painting‘ was definitely above 100, some when ‘painting‘ was definitely below 100, and others can be used in all situations.

  • Definitely above: just above, just over.
  • Definitely below: almost, just below, just under, nearly.
  • Above or below: approximately, roughly, about, around.

IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary for Predictions

So far in this lesson, all of the data we looked at was in the past.

However, there are times when the question will contain future predictions, like in the chart below.

Be careful to use this IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary when talking about predictions rather than using 'will' or 'going to'.

As there’s no guarantee that these predictions will come true, we cannot use grammar structures like ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to describe them.

Instead, we must use phrases like these;

  • is expected to
  • is forecast to
  • is predicted to
  • is projected to
  • is shown to

Here’s an example;

  • The number of people doing woodwork increased by about 10 from 1980 to 1990 and suddenly increased to 200 people in 2000. After that, it has steadily decreased, and this trend is predicted to continue until 2040.

How Examiners Assess Your IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary

The examiner will assess your vocabulary based on the Lexical Resource band descriptor, which you can find here.

Here are the main things you need to know.

Clear Communication

Communicating clearly is the most essential aspect of your Lexical Resource band score.

To communicate clearly, every word in your answer needs to be used accurately.

But, you can only use a word accurately if you fully understand it.

Without learning to accurately use the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 vocabulary in this lesson, it won't help your score as much as we'd like.

This is why there are images and complete sentences to explain all the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary in this lesson.

To help you improve your accuracy further, you will need to read texts that contain this type of language.

Good sources are the business sections of newspapers. Here are some examples;

Accurate Spelling

If you make lots of spelling mistakes, you won’t get a high Lexical Resource score.

Some people are naturally good at spelling, and others need to work hard to remember.

If you often misspell words, please make sure to learn the correct spelling of all the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary in this lesson or else it won’t improve your score.

Even if you've learned all the vocabulary for IELTS Writing Task 1 in this lesson, you won't get the same boost to your score if you misspell the words.

Accurate collocations

Collocations are words that are often used together.

For example, common collocations for the word ‘increase’ are;

  • increase to
  • increase from
  • increase by
  • increase until
When learning the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary make sure that you learn collocations rather than individual words.

This is why it’s crucial to learn phrases or whole sentences instead of learning individual words.

For example, if you only learn the word ‘increase‘, you won’t know the correct collocation for your IELTS test.

But if you learn the words ‘it increased from‘, you will use the correct collocation.

A range of topic-specific vocabulary

The great thing about Academic IELTS Task 1 is that there will probably be a chart in your question.

That means that all the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary from this lesson will give you the topic-specific vocabulary you need.

Just be aware that it’s okay to use the same word two or three times in your essay.

So if the word ‘increase‘ is in your essay two or three times, that won’t bring down your score.

But you can’t use the word ‘increase‘ every single time, and that’s why you need to learn all the different ways to describe this type of trend.

Another thing you should be aware of is that the examiner will count the noun and the verb forms of a word as two different words.

For example, in the sentence below, the word ‘increase’ is used as a noun and as a verb, so the examiner will recognize that these are different words.

There was an increase (noun) of about 10 people doing woodwork between 1980 and 1990, and it suddenly increased (verb) to roughly 200 people in 2000.

However, the IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary in this lesson is not the only vocabulary you’ll need for your answer.

You will also need vocabulary based on the categories in the question.

For example, one of the categories in today’s lesson was ‘video games‘, so you needed to know that ‘playing video games‘ was the appropriate term to use in the answer.

Make sure to continue improving your range of vocabulary with the strategy to improve Lexical Resource.

What next?

With all of the vocabulary you’ve learned in this lesson, your life will be much easier on test day. Make sure that you also learn the vocabulary you need for Task 1 map and Task 1 process questions.

If you need to revise any of the vocabulary, this video lesson will be helpful for you.

Next, make sure you understand the other IELTS band scores as well, so complete the Task Achievement lesson, the Coherence and Cohesion lesson and the grammar lesson for Academic IELTS Task 1.

The biggest hurdle for most IELTS candidates in Task 1 is writing effective overviews so you’ll need to complete my overview lesson as well and then follow my 5-Step Plan for writing your essay.

I also wanted to share two activities to help you practice IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary on the British Council and Cambridge websites.