How many paragraphs should my IELTS Academic W1 have?

Paragraphing is an essential skill for both IELTS writing task 1 and 2. If you look at the band descriptors you will find that the Coherence and Cohesion category accounts for 25% of your overall score. Coherence and Cohesion means that you are able to correctly link your ideas together and make good use of paragraphing. 

 Therefore, it is important to get it right as otherwise, your score will suffer. 

How many paragraphs should my IELTS Academic W1 have? 

Your writing task 1 your essay should contain at least 4 paragraphs: 

• The introduction paragraph 

• The overview paragraph 

• Detail paragraph 1 

• Detail paragraph 2 

It is really important to remember that IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is not an essay. It is instead a report. You are required to organize your paragraphs in a coherent manner and logical manner that is suitable for a report.

Most of the time W1 will only require 4 paragraphs though sometimes, you may need to include an additional detail paragraph (making a total of 5). 

The introduction paragraph

Paragraph 1 should contain your introduction and provide a brief description of the map, diagram, chart or graph, and what it depicts. Of course, there will always be labels on the diagram telling you what it shows, but make sure that you paraphrase where possible to boost your score.

The overview paragraph 

The overview paragraph is possibly the most important part of W1. It is a relatively short paragraph but it should contain all the main features of the map, diagram, chart, or graph. Remember, your job is to “select and report the main features” not to report everything so only report things that matter. Normally, you should identify just 2-3 main features. You are also asked to “make comparisons where relevant” and you can also do that in this part of the report.

Detail paragraphs 1 & 2 

It is in the two detail paragraphs that you are expected to build upon your previous points and include more detailed information. You can include data, dates, statistics, and anything else that might help you to really detail the points you made in your overview. The detail paragraphs are also the place for you to make your relevant comparisons in detail. If you have a question with a particularly large amount of information, it is also possible to add another detail paragraph.  

NOTE  - it is possible to instead include the overview paragraph at the end of your report. However, considering that it is the most important part, I recommend that you include it at the beginning so that you don’t run out of time to write it. 

NEXT STEPS?

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog.  If you have any questions regarding the test or would like to inquire about my writing correction services or IELTS online classes please email me at info@lovetolearnenglish.com.