Writing an overview
for a
diagram/graph/chart
IELTS writing: task 1

• What’s an overview?
An overview is a summary of the main points or general trends of a
diagram or graph.
• What is the process of selecting key information to form the
basis of an overview?
See the process in the next slide

Activity: look at the overview in step 3 and
answer questions 1-4 below for more
understanding.
1 Which words / phrases show that these
are general trends (instead of details)?
2 Can you think of any other words /
phrases like this?
3 Does the candidate give any specific
percentages in the overview?
4 Which words / phrases does the
candidate use to refer to ‘percentage of
the population who travelled abroad’?
2) write notes about the key points the graph
is showing:
1) look at the information in the vertical and horizontal axes
and different elements of the diagram/chart to get the main
idea.
3) transform your notes into an overview as in the example below.
It should be 20-40 words only.

Practice writing an overview for the following line graph.