IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary (Complete List)

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.
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

 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

 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

 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

 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.

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.
 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.
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

 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

 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).

 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.

 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.
 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.

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.

 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.

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.

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;
 Reuters
 The Guardian
 AP News
 Yahoo Finance
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.

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
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