IELTS Task 1 Pie Charts: Electricity Sources
Compare two pie charts showing how a country produced its electricity in 2005 and 2025.
- Time
- 20 min
- Length
- 150-190 words
Writadia · C1 · IELTS Task 1
NameClassDate
Your task
- Coal
- Gas
- Nuclear
- Renewables
- Other
Show the numbers as a table
| 2005 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 45% | 15% |
| Gas | 25% | 30% |
| Nuclear | 20% | 18% |
| Renewables | 7% | 35% |
| Other | 3% | 2% |
Data invented for practice purposes.
The pie charts show the proportion of electricity generated from different sources in Country X in 2005 and 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Writing toolkit
Open these only when you need them. Try the first draft on your own.
Plan it in steps
- Introduction: paraphrase what the two charts compare.
- Overview: the most important shift (coal → renewables).
- Paragraph 1: the two sources that changed most.
- Paragraph 2: sources that changed little.
- Use proportion language: a third, just under half, a fifth.
Useful phrases
Proportions
Comparing two charts
Tap a phrase to add it to your text. Gaps (…) are selected so you can type over them.
Vocabulary
- proportion
- a part of a wholea large proportion of electricity
- share
- the part that belongs to one groupthe share of renewables
- overtake
- become bigger thanRenewables overtook coal.
- fivefold
- five times as mucha fivefold increase
- mix
- the combination of different thingsthe energy mix
Model answer (167 words)
Read it after you’ve written your own version. Notice the highlighted parts. The numbers explain why they work.
The two pie charts illustrate the share of electricity that Country X produced from five different sources in 2005 and 2025.1
Overall, the country's energy mix changed dramatically over the twenty years. Coal, which had been the dominant source, was replaced by renewables as the largest contributor, while the other sources changed relatively little.2
In 2005, coal generated almost half (45%) of the country's electricity. By 2025, however, this share had fallen to just 15%, a decline of two thirds. Over the same period, renewable sources saw a fivefold increase, rising from a small fraction (7%) to roughly a third (35%) of the total, which made them the single most important source.3
The share of gas rose moderately, from a quarter to 30%, so it became the second-largest source in 2025. Nuclear power remained largely stable, providing about a fifth of electricity in 2005 and slightly less (18%) twenty years later.4 Other sources made up only a tiny proportion in both years, at 3% and 2% respectively.
- Paraphrased introduction.
- Overview with the key shift.
- Proportion language + "fivefold".
- Grouping stable sources together.
Teacher notes
Proportions: drill fractions and percentages before writing: 25% = a quarter, 33% = a third, 48% = just under half.
Note: never write "the pie chart shows that coal was 45 percents". Percent is invariable.
Extra challenge
Write two sentences about the 2025 chart alone, ranking the sources from largest to smallest.
Lesson plan
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: proportion, share, overtake, fivefold, mix.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “almost half (45%)”, “roughly a third (35%)”, “a fifth (20%)”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (150-190 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
Assessment rubric
| Criterion | Band 7+ | Band 6 | Band 5 | Band 4 or below | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task Achievement | Clear overview; key features selected and compared. | Overview present; some details irrelevant or missing. | No clear overview; details listed mechanically. | Task largely not addressed. | |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Logical flow; varied, natural linking; clear paragraphs. | Generally organised; linking sometimes mechanical. | Weak organisation; few or faulty linkers. | Ideas not linked. | |
| Lexical Resource | Wide, precise vocabulary; few slips. | Adequate range; some errors that do not block meaning. | Limited range; noticeable repetition and spelling errors. | Very limited; meaning often lost. | |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Variety of complex structures; most sentences error-free. | Mix of simple and complex forms; errors rarely reduce clarity. | Mostly simple forms; frequent errors. | Errors seriously affect understanding. | |
| Total | |||||
Criterion names are the official IELTS criteria; descriptors are short classroom summaries. Each criterion carries equal weight.
Task checklist
- I identified the main change in the overview.
- I used proportion language (half, a third...).
- I compared the two years for each source.
Teacher comment
Peer-review sheet
Students swap texts and give each other feedback with this sheet.
Before you finish
Before you finish
- I identified the main change in the overview.
- I used proportion language (half, a third...).
- I compared the two years for each source.
Writadia · C1 · IELTS Task 1
Assessment rubric: IELTS Task 1 Pie Charts: Electricity Sources
| Criterion | Band 7+ | Band 6 | Band 5 | Band 4 or below | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task Achievement | Clear overview; key features selected and compared. | Overview present; some details irrelevant or missing. | No clear overview; details listed mechanically. | Task largely not addressed. | |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Logical flow; varied, natural linking; clear paragraphs. | Generally organised; linking sometimes mechanical. | Weak organisation; few or faulty linkers. | Ideas not linked. | |
| Lexical Resource | Wide, precise vocabulary; few slips. | Adequate range; some errors that do not block meaning. | Limited range; noticeable repetition and spelling errors. | Very limited; meaning often lost. | |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Variety of complex structures; most sentences error-free. | Mix of simple and complex forms; errors rarely reduce clarity. | Mostly simple forms; frequent errors. | Errors seriously affect understanding. | |
| Total | |||||
Criterion names are the official IELTS criteria; descriptors are short classroom summaries. Each criterion carries equal weight.
Task checklist
- I identified the main change in the overview.
- I used proportion language (half, a third...).
- I compared the two years for each source.
Teacher comment
Writadia · C1 · IELTS Task 1
Peer-review sheet: IELTS Task 1 Pie Charts: Electricity Sources
WriterReviewer
Read your partner’s text carefully. Be kind and specific: say why, not just “good”.
Task checklist
| Yes | Partly | No | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I identified the main change in the overview. | |||
| I used proportion language (half, a third...). | |||
| I compared the two years for each source. |
Questions
- Does the text cover every point in the task?
- Are there paragraphs? What is each one about?
- Write two linking words the writer used.
- Is there a sentence you had to read twice?
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Writadia · C1 · IELTS Task 1
Lesson plan: IELTS Task 1 Pie Charts: Electricity Sources
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: proportion, share, overtake, fivefold, mix.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “almost half (45%)”, “roughly a third (35%)”, “a fifth (20%)”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (150-190 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
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