This week's sessions
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- Task 1: overview and detailsRead this week's lesson and the Task 1 guide. Write one overview sentence for each example chart.
- Grammar accuracy practiceComplete the grammar practice set below. Write down any rule you got wrong.
- Matching headingsRead the matching headings guide, then do the headings practice set below.
- Write a Task 1 and a Task 2Write Task 1 in 20 minutes, then plan your Task 2 for 5 minutes and write as much as you can in the remaining time.
- Reading practice test 3Do one passage in 20 minutes. Use the headings routine on any matching headings questions.
This week's lesson: Writing Task 1 and the grammar that costs marks
This week you'll practise Writing Task 1, matching headings in Reading, and the small grammar mistakes that keep many writers at band 5.5.
Writing Task 1 (Academic): describe, don't explain
In Task 1 you describe a chart, table, graph, map or process in at least 150 words, in about 20 minutes. You don't give your opinion and you don't explain why the numbers changed.
A band 6 report has four parts:
- Introduction: say what the chart shows, in your own words.
- Overview: two sentences on the main features, for example the biggest change or the highest group. This is the most important sentence in Task 1. Without an overview, it's hard to get band 6.
- Details 1 and 2: two paragraphs with numbers that support your overview.
Overview: Overall, car travel was the most common way to get to work in both years, while cycling saw the biggest increase.
Useful language for numbers
- Change: rose, increased, grew / fell, decreased, dropped / remained stable
- Size of change: slightly, gradually, significantly, sharply
- Comparing: higher than, twice as many as, the highest, the lowest
The number of cyclists rose significantly, from 5% in 2015 to 12% in 2025.
Use exact numbers from the chart, and don't describe every number. Choose the most important ones.
(General Training Task 1 is a letter: the same idea applies. Cover all three bullet points and use the right tone.)
Reading: matching headings
Each paragraph needs one heading. Read the paragraph's first two sentences and last sentence: the main idea is usually there. Choose the heading that sums up the whole paragraph, not just one detail. Do the easiest paragraphs first, and cross out headings as you use them.
Try it
Write an overview for this chart: the percentage of homes with a car, a bicycle and a computer in 2000 and 2020, where computers rose from 40% to 90%, cars stayed at about 80%, and bicycles fell from 50% to 35%.
Overall, computer ownership grew dramatically, while car ownership stayed stable and fewer homes had a bicycle.
Notice that the overview has no numbers. The numbers go in the detail paragraphs.
The grammar that matters most at band 6
Examiners don't expect perfect grammar at band 6, but frequent basic errors pull your score down. Check these four in every piece of writing:
- Subject–verb agreement: The number of students is growing. / Many people are...
- Countable and uncountable nouns: advice, information, research, equipment have no plural: ~~informations~~.
- Articles: the government, the environment, the most important, but people, society, technology in general.
- Past tense in Task 1: if the chart shows 2015, write rose, not rises.
Common traps at this level
- No overview in Task 1.
- Giving opinions or reasons in an Academic Task 1.
- Listing every number instead of choosing the important ones.
- Choosing a heading because one word matches. Check the whole paragraph.
Practice for this week
Grammar accuracy practice
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Matching headings
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Weekly check: Academic Reading full test 2
60 minutes for 40 questions; compare with your week 2 result.
When you finish, come back to your plan home: your dashboard updates with the new score.
Answers, explanations and transcripts
Finish the test first, then open each section to check your answers. Every answer has an explanation.
Grammar accuracy practice
Answer key (8 answers)
| # | Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choose the correct sentence. | The number of students is increasing. | The subject is 'the number', which is singular, so the verb is 'is'. |
| 2 | Choose the correct sentence. | She gave me some useful advice. | 'Advice' is uncountable: no plural, no 'a'. Use 'some advice' or 'a piece of advice'. |
| 3 | Choose the correct sentence. | The government should spend more on education. | Use 'the government' (one specific government), but 'education' in general has no article. |
| 4 | The chart shows data from 2015 to 2025. Choose the correct sentence. | The number of cyclists rose sharply. | The data is about the past, so use the past simple: rose. |
| 5 | Choose the correct sentence. | Many people think that cities are too crowded. | 'People' is plural: people think. 'Peoples' means nations, which isn't the meaning here. |
| 6 | Choose the correct sentence. | There is a lot of information online. | 'Information' is uncountable: 'a lot of information' with 'is'. |
| 7 | Choose the correct sentence. | Technology has changed the way we work. | 'Technology' in general has no article and takes a singular verb; 'has' is followed by the past participle 'changed'. |
| 8 | Choose the correct sentence. | It is one of the most important problems. | 'One of the' + superlative + plural noun: one of the most important problems. |
Matching headings
Passage text
Learning to swim
A In Australia, where most people live near the coast, swimming is seen as an essential life skill. Many schools include swimming lessons in their programmes, and children often learn to swim before they can ride a bike.
B Swimming lessons have not always been common, however. Until the early twentieth century, few people could swim, and drowning was a frequent cause of death. Public swimming baths were rare, and many people believed that sea water was dangerous for health.
C Swimming is also excellent exercise. It works almost every muscle in the body, and because the water supports the body's weight, it puts very little pressure on the joints. For this reason, doctors often recommend it for older people and for anyone recovering from an injury.
D Despite this, the number of children who can swim well has fallen in some areas. Lessons can be expensive, and families who live far from a pool may find it difficult to attend regularly. Some schools have also reduced the time given to swimming because of pressure on the timetable.
Answer key (4 answers)
| # | Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Choose the best heading for paragraph A. | i. A skill that is highly valued | Paragraph A says swimming is 'an essential life skill' in Australia. Heading v is a distractor: the passage doesn't discuss building costs. |
| 10 | Choose the best heading for paragraph B. | iv. A time when few could swim | Paragraph B describes the past: 'few people could swim'. 'Swimming baths' appears, but the paragraph isn't about their cost. |
| 11 | Choose the best heading for paragraph C. | iii. Benefits for health | Paragraph C is about exercise, muscles and joints: health benefits. |
| 12 | Choose the best heading for paragraph D. | ii. A decline in ability | Paragraph D: 'the number of children who can swim well has fallen'. Cost is mentioned, but only as one reason for the decline, so it isn't the main idea. |
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