What Tense to Use in IELTS Writing Task 1

It is essential to use the right tense in IELTS writing task 1, both academic and GT. This page will explain which tenses to use. The academic test will be explained first and lower down the page you will find grammar tips for GT letters.

Also find writing task 1 tips further down the page.

Academic Writing Task 1 Tenses to Use

For IELTS writing task 1, you may be given a map, a diagram, a bar chart, a line graph, a table or a pie chart in the academic test. The IELTS examiner will mark you on the following (each worth 25% of task 1)

  • Task Achievement: information, overview, accurate of data
  • Coherence & Cohesion: Paragraphing, Linking Words
  • Vocabulary: Collocations, Spelling and Accuracy
  • Grammar: Sentence structure, tenses, punctuation, grammar range and accuracy

So, you can see that using the right tense is important in IELTS writing task 1 because it falls into the marking criterion of Grammar.

Dates and Tenses

On your IELTS graph, chart, map, diagram or table, you might find dates. These will tell you what tense to use. See the list below:

  • No Dates = present tense
  • Dates in the Past = Past Tense
  • Dates in the Future = Future Forms
  • Dates spanning both Past and Future = both Past Tense and Future Forms

Using Passive Voice in IELTS Writing Task 1

There are students who seem to think they will get a high score if they use passive voice. This is not true. You can only use passive voice when it is appropriate and correct to do so. Most writing task 1 will not give you this opportunity. However, if you get a diagram, they are usually a combination of passive and active voice.

Mixing both Past Tense and Future Forms

Here is a sample sentence using both tenses:

In 2010, the number of sales stood at 2 million and is forecast to rise to a peak of 10 million by 2050.

You can see past simple “stood” and future forms of prediction “is forecast to”

IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 Tenses

The examiner will mark you using the same criteria as the AC test, but with one difference in Task Achievement. The IELTS examiner will mark you on the following (each worth 25% of task 1). See below:

    • Task Achievement: Purpose, tone and expanding points
    • Coherence & Cohesion: Paragraphing, Linking Words
    • Vocabulary: Collocations, Spelling and Accuracy
    • Grammar: Sentence structure, tenses, punctuation, grammar range and accuracy

For students taking the General Training test. You will use a range of tenses in your letter depending on the aims and purpose. Below are some sample sentences:

  • I am writing to …. (present continuous)
  • I visited your store … (past simple)
  • …the poor service I have received (present perfect)
  • I hope the problem will be resolved … (future form and future passive)
  • I had hoped that … (past perfect)

Tips for IELTS Writing Task 1

Academic writing task 1 tips, click below:

All Tips, Model Answers, Free Video Lessons & Practice for IELTS writing task 1

GT writing task 1 tips, click below:

Essential 10 tips

Differences between GT and Academic Writing Task 1

Main IELTS Pages

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Comments

  1. Solanki Meetrajsinh says

    THANKS for the guidance throughout my ielts journey.
    JUST I received my desired IELTS score of overall 7.5

  2. Dear Liz,
    Regarding the tense for Task 1 Academic, it is stated that we can use simple present if there is no time specified. But if there is a verb in the question which shows a past incident, then can we use past tense in the overview and body paragraphs? For example the question is “The chart below shows what Anthropology graduates from one university did after finishing their undergraduate degree course”

    • When you see the past tense used in rubric given by IELTS, it means the information in the chart/graph is in the past and this means you will use a past tense.

  3. Chijioke Kingsley Ongele says

    Hello Liz, since the introduction in task 1 is almost always too small to make a paragraph and one might need to add the overview to it, how then does a writer achieve 4 paragraphs?

    • Why do you need four paragraphs? There are no set rules about the number of paragraphs for writing task 1.

  4. Angel says

    This would be my third time over the years doing IELTS test and yet still referring to your website so I can study well. Thanks and hats off to all this hard work you’ve done here!!
    Lots of love all the way from the Middle East 🙂

    • Great to know you can still benefit from my lessons. Lots of luck in your next test 🙂

  5. Gitika kaur says

    Hello Ma’am,

    You justify the value of knowledge!! Thanks a lot. I am constantly following your blog as am preparing for IELTS. The content and way of explanation is amazing. Hats off to your incredible work and effort.

    Thanks,

  6. Saman Guru says

    Hey Liz,
    You are brilliant

  7. Nishanth says

    Hey Liz,
    I follow your website regularly and found it very useful comparative to any other sites available these days, and even heard from one of a British Council Examiner as he suggested to follow your website for factual information, that amused me.

    By the way, please post some more information for GT – Writing task 1 in a video form as I see most of the information is covered for Academic Students only.

    Hope you consider my request.

    Kindly do the needful.
    Nishanth

    ** Also please highlight any mistakes found in this comment **

  8. Hello Liz,
    Are we supposed to use indented paragraphs in our writing section?
    And for internet base IELT general training; will i write my texts/answers on anwers sheet or i type my answers on the computer.
    Thank you

    • It makes no difference if you indent or leave an empty line instead. As long as paragraphs are very easy to see, it is fine.

  9. Deepak says

    Dear Liz,
    Is writing task 1 is only for academic test, cannot able to find fins much question & answers for the general test. kindly elaborate for the general test which one I have to write, little confused.

  10. Atom says

    20/05/2019 cue card topic
    Describe a practical skill
    What is it
    How you learned
    How difficult it is
    Explain how you felt

    • Thanks for sharing 🙂 However, you might want to consider posting this on a page for speaking 🙂

  11. lakhwinder says

    Hi liz
    Thanks!
    I find ur lessons realy helpful.
    Can u please explain which questions in writing task 1 do not need an overview?
    Will wait for ur reply.

  12. Hi Liz,
    I took the test just this saturday. I’m worried i might have made a major mistake in task 1. The task description said ‘The plans show a coal mine before and after redevelopment into a visitor attraction’ and showed 2 pictures pre and post renovation of the coal mine. I only focused on the changes made (on the after picture) and used the future tense all throughout the overview and body paragraphs (i used the present tense for the intro) as i was misled by the word ‘plans’ and i assumed that the redevelopment wasn’t done yet (e.g ‘will undergo’ instead of ‘undertook’, ‘will be demolished’ instead of ‘was demolished’, ‘will be converted instead of ‘was converted’, etc.). I finished both tasks with 10 mins to spare and used that time to check for errors in grammar, spelling, vocab & sentence structures (i’m sure i at least have error-free sentences and good grammar). Can i still get at least a 7 for task 1 despite the wrong tense used?

    • Your score is based on Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Vocabulary and Grammar. Grammar counts for 25% of your marks and tenses are only one part of that.

  13. DEAR LIZ .;,,
    Can we write piechart and bargraph in past tense if the date isnot mentiond in the question,
    One of my ielts teacher told me that would be fine,,but i want to hear from u
    Please help me

    • When no date is given, you should use present tense. However, if you choose past tense and stick to that tense throughout your whole report, it will be fine. The problem is when you mix them up and get confused which tense you are using.

  14. Hi mam
    We can’t write all task 1 in passive voice?
    And Any disadvantage of use passive voice in task 1?

    • You must use the correct tense for the dates given and also for the information presented. If you have problems about using the passive voice and don’t understand when to use it or when not to use it, I suggest you find an English language teacher to help you or buy a grammar book.

  15. Hi, Liz!
    Should I write in future if there is the word estimated in the writing task one, like estimated sales, and no dates given?
    Thaks in advance.

  16. Amanda Sari Widyanti says

    Hey Liz, I wanna ask something. How about the word ‘before and after’ I mean in cambridge ielts 11 theres a question in test 4 about total number of visitors to a museum BEFORE and AFTER its refurbished. There is no dates, just those before and after. I’m kinda confused whether to use present or past tense? Thanks in advance.

  17. Hi I can’t. Write. Task 1

  18. Hojiakbar Sobirov says

    I have never ever tried to write any first task essays which would be with mixed time of past and future tenses, but as I recently took my exam, I was faced with the mixed tenses and could not deal with that and thus got a low score. So that, could you please explain me or give me a link to a page where I could learn the main structure of the type of task one question? I would be really thankful for your help me if you do not mind please, give me some more example essays with band 9

    • The first time you need to get clear is that task 1 is NOT an essay. Writing task 1 is a report based on data or any visual representation of information given. If the datas are from past to present, there is no specific structure. The report is structure as usual depending on key features. The grammar will reflect both time period: “The number of sales rose from 5,000 in 2000 and is estimated to reach a peak of 30,000 in 2050.” (both past and future forms)

  19. Hello,

    I would like to ask you whether it is bad to start an introduction for task 1 with something like this or not:

    ‘The given visual matirial provides us with the information about …”

    I just wondered if this word ‘us’ is too informal for this kind of report?

    • This is not appropriate to use for writing task 1. If it is a table, then you introduce a table, not “given visual material”.

  20. Ramya says

    Hi Liz,
    First and foremost, Thank you very much for the great work that you are doing, You are simply awesome! I am going to appear for IELTS – GT this month end, and I have few queries to you:

    1. While answering to Listening or Reading section, for sentence completion kind of questions, do we need to use Initial caps even if it is not a noun? I have this confusion. Do we lose mark for this?

    2. What does it mean, if the part of the answer is mentioned in the brackets? Eg. (a) Pilot study, though there instructed as ‘No more than 3 words’

    3. In some of the practice test answer keys, they have mentioned the answer both in singular and plural as ‘Instructor/Instructors’ – Is it correct or safe to mention like this? I am losing marks mostly in plural during my practice sessions

    4.In a scenario, the instruction clearly states as ‘One word only’ but the answer for a question is 2 years. Without specifying the word ‘years’ the sentence would not deliver a correct meaning in the listening test. What do I need to do on this scenario? Will bracketing work on this occasion?

    5.I am appearing through BC and my friend appeared through IDP in the early on this month. I happened to get his practice work book and it seems very tough when compared to BC workbook. I had a confidence while worked out with my BC practice tests whereas the same is lacking with IDP. Why there is a difference? B’coz I heard that the exam will be same irrespective of the centers, but this leaves a doubt in me.

    It would be of an immense help if you could kindly advise on the above questions. Thanks Liz.

    And one more request Liz, I would like my writing on task 1 to get evaluated by you, if your time permits, so that I could do some fine tuning on the same. If you are ok, kindly let me know your email to send the pic of my writings, since i have written in a paper.

    Thanks again LIZ 🙂

    • Hi, sounds like there is still a lot you are unsure about in IELTS. Always check my information page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-help-faq/. Here are some answers to your questions:
      1. Capital letters are not considered in listening or reading. That means you can use them, not use them, use them incorrectly, mix them up – nothing matters. Just ignore them. If you want to write all answers in capitals, do so.
      2. In answer keys there are can sometimes be more than one possible answer. For example, “a pilot” or “pilot”. When this is the case, the answer key is written as “(a) pilot” which shows the “a” is optional. You can’t write like this in your test. You must choose one answer and write it.
      3. You must write only one answer – singular or plural. This is a test, and it’s testing your understanding of plurals.
      4. IELTS never write “one word only”. Are you using real IELTS tests which are published by IELTS. If you are downloading for free from other websites, you are not using real tests. Be aware of fakes. Use the IELTS Cambridge test books from 1 to 11.
      5. BC do not write their tests. IDP do not write their test. The IELTS tests are written by a third party. Any difference between tests is random and not based on centers.
      Sorry I don’t offer marking at present. See my main writing task 1 page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
      Good luck!

  21. ashish says

    Dear liz

    There is this book for writing task 1 that i’ve purchased and it has a sentence “The sewer line close to my home overflew resulting into streaming of sewer water on the road”
    I wanted to know if i can use “overflowed” instead of “overflew”
    Because the word “overflew” sounds wrong to me somehow.

    Please help

    • This sentence is grammatically incorrect with more than one mistake. I recommend you stop using that book.

  22. Balaji says

    Hi Liz,

    Is it still true that the writing Task-1 for GT would have letter writing and not any graphs which we need to explain?

    Thanks,
    Balu

    • The Oficial IELTS Websites still make it clear that GT writing task 1 is a letter.

      • Balaji says

        Thanks for the clarification, Liz.

        I have one more question on GT Reading.
        I am appearing for IELTS GT and have been going through Cambridge practice tests for IELTS. I find that the GT reading samples given in these books are easier and have moderate vocabulary in the reading passages when compared to the IDP sample tests, that I received on booking my test. The IDP reading samples are tough to interpret in the given time and have complex sentence structures. Would it be same in the actual test as well?

        Thanks,
        Balaji

        • The tests are not written by IDP or BC. So, the test doesn’t vary – of course individual tests may slightly but that’s all.

  23. thank you very much. 7/10 it is useful .

  24. Katerina says

    Hello Liz
    I’m an English teacher in Greece and I would like some information on how to help students with the IELTS exams. Any books to study, apart from your great tips?

    • On the whole, I learned my tips by doing test after test myself. I also spent a lot of time helping students and understanding how best to help them.

  25. Aisha says

    Hello ,
    I have a question could you please tell me how important it is to paraphrase the writing task 2 in our introduction ( the first 2 lines of the essay) as i have seen on many blogs people just start will the topic such as , It is seen, It is true , or just the answer of what is asked and not paraphrase the question given .

    • You can’t copy the question, you need to paraphrase it which means write it again in your own words.

  26. Hi Liz,

    just a quick question, in listening section if the answer is “internet users” will the Users of internet” be considered correct or not.

    • It would be wrong. You must write down what you hear.

      • Kogode says

        Hi Liz, i used your website for preparing for my test today. Please I have an issue. My task one had no dates but they gave a general statement in past tense (a study was done on global warming and the tables shows the suggestion of respondents). Since there was no date, I used present tense to answer, but someone told me that I should have used past tense because of the statement.

        • If the information given to you shows it is past tense, you should use past tense. You can’t ignore that you have been told it is all in the past.

  27. emily says

    Hi there Liz, I would just like to verify if it is
    possible to use past tense in writing task 1 even if there
    is no specific time indicated in the question? Thank you vry much

    • It is recommended to use the present tense when there are no dates given. However, if you decide to use the past in this case and you use it all the way through your task 1 report, then it wouldn’t be considered a big mistake and you could still do quite well.

  28. This is good tips I read. This is my first time to join to IELTS course as I am preparing for exams but it needs a time to prepare all vocabulary.

    • Yes, take time to prepare ideas for topics in speaking and writing as well as vocabulary.

  29. sujit kumar biswas says

    Dear great teacher liz
    Thank you for your valuable information
    “I had hoped that you would come in time”
    such a new sentence for me

    may you long live

    sujit

  30. Arikpo says

    Thanks for all your free tips and lessons pertaining to IELTS. I really found them valuable when I took the test on the fourth of March 2017.

  31. suny patel from ahemedabad says

    hello mam…if there is verb given in past tense in question ……then in which tense i shoud write?

  32. Neetu says

    Thnks Liz
    All the information is very useful for me.

  33. Myat Min says

    Dear Liz,

    I cannot find your lessons for Letter writing task on YouTube.

  34. Ravina Lalwala says

    Thank you

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