How To Write Your Introduction For IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The introduction for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 only requires you to write one sentence and that is all.

Basically, all you need to do is re-read the question statement and write this again in your own words. You should use synonyms and paraphrasing to help you do this.

Let's use the same example question that we already analysed in step 1 here:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graphs above give information about computer ownership as a percentage of the population between 2002 and 2010, and by level of education for the years 2002 and 2010.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The question statement is the sentence:

The graphs above give information about computer ownership as a percentage of the population between 2002 and 2010, and by level of education for the years 2002 and 2010.

As you may remember, the rest of the question instructions are the same for every IELTS Writing Task 1 question.

Now, let's write this question statement again in our own words. Here is the original:

The line graphs reveal data regarding the percentage of people that own computers at various education levels between the years of 2002 and 2010.

I have used two techniques here:

Firstly, direct synonyms:

graphs = line graphs

show = reveal

information = data

about = regarding

for the years 2002 and 2010 = in the years 2002 and 2010

Secondly, change of word order:

computer ownership = people that own computers

of a population = percentage of people

by level of education = at various education levels

Notice how some words are impossible to change, or if we did change them they would become inaccurate. For example, we could change computers to 'electronic devices', or 'laptops' perhaps but these words do not have the exact same meaning.

They are very 'loose' synonyms and if you use words like these you will lose marks as the meaning of your sentence will not be exactly the same. So always use exactly matching synonyms (direct synonyms), or simply use the same word.

If you cannot find an exact synonym then you can try changing the order of the words instead. This will show a good control of grammar and it may also mean you have to use a different form of the word which again will impress the examiner.

In this case, we changed computer ownership to people that own computers. Although the words are the same the grammar is not, which should positively affect your band score.

Essentially, that is all you need to do in your introduction. Simply restate the question statement in your own words as accurately as possible. The more you practice this the easier it will become.

Next, we will look at how to write your over view paragraph using the key features you identified in step one when you analysed the question.