IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Lesson 2 - How to write about percentages

Part 1

In this lesson, we will look at various ways to write about percentages.

Hello! Welcome to lesson 2 in our IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 series. In this lesson, we are going to look at how to write about percentages that you’ll find in Task 1 questions.

In the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, you are asked to write a report about a bar chart, line graph, pie chart, or table. Very often, the units are given in percentages, especially in a pie chart. So, in this lesson, we will look at various ways to write about percentages. We will go over:

How to use the words “percent” and “percentage” correctly
What verbs to use when describing percentages
How to paraphrase percentages

At the end of the lesson, you’ll have a chance to practice with a couple of exercises. Let’s get started!

It’s important to know how to use the words “percentage” and “percent” accurately.

Some students confuse the word “percentage” with “percent.” Look at the following incorrect sentences:

Energy produced by gas and nuclear accounted for 52 percentage of the total energy in 2014.
Food accounted for a small percent of the budget.
The percent of women completing high school was 85%.

The correct sentences should be:

Energy produced by gas and nuclear accounted for 52 percent / 52% of the total energy in 2014.
Food accounted for a small percentage of the budget.
The percentage of women completing high school was 85%.

A “percent” means “a hundredth part of something.” This is why the word “percent” is always preceded by a number. For example:

The population figures for India rose by 12 percent over two decades.
The figure for unemployment dropped to 5 percent in 2015.

You can also use the number with the percent sign, like “10%.” For instance:

64% of the population of North America was urban in 1950.
In Japan, consumers spent 20% of their total expenditures on food in 2009.
Canada had the lowest housing share, at 21%.

The word “percentage” means “a number that represents a portion of a whole divided into 100 parts.”

When it refers to a numerical proportion, use “the percentage of.” For instance:

The percentage of advertising online was 43% in 2012.
The chart illustrates the percentage of male and female teachers in six types of educational settings in the UK in 2010.

When it refers to “a part of a whole,” use phrases like “a large/small percentage of.” For example:

Digital media expenditure accounted for a large percentage of advertising spending in 2008.
Food accounted for a small percentage of the budget.

Be very careful about subject-verb agreement when using “a large/small percentage of.”

Besides using “a large/small percentage of,” there are other useful expressions to describe a part of a whole, such as:

Digital media expenditure accounted for a large proportion of advertising spending in 2008.
Digital media expenditure accounted for a large segment of advertising spending in 2008.
Digital media expenditure accounted for a large fraction of advertising spending in 2008.

These phrases are extremely useful when describing information in a pie chart. Also, be very careful about subject-verb agreement when using them. Consider this sentence:

A large percentage of advertising spending was spent on digital media.

Here, because “advertising spending” is an uncountable noun, the singular verb was is used. However, if the noun is countable and plural, use the plural verb, as in the following sentence:

A small percentage of consumers prefer to take the bus.

Continue to next part:

Part 2

Okay! Let’s move on to what verbs to use when describing percentages.

When you are given a pie chart or bar graph, there are a few useful words and phrases you can use to describe or report percentages. They are:

account for
make up
constitute
comprise

Let’s look at how to use them!

Consider the following sentences:

6% of energy production in France in 2010 was hydro power.
24% of energy production in France in 2010 was nuclear power.

Let’s paraphrase them using “account for,” “make up,” “constitute,” and “comprise.”

The following sentences are all correct:

Energy production in France comprised 6% hydro power and 24% nuclear power in 2010.
In 2010, hydro power and nuclear power accounted for 6% and 24% of energy production in France, respectively.
In 2010, hydro power and nuclear power made up 6% and 24% of energy production in France, respectively.
In 2010, hydro power and nuclear power constituted 6% and 24% of energy production in France, respectively.
In 2010, hydro power and nuclear power comprised 6% and 24% of energy production in France, respectively.

Notice that the verb “comprise” can mean either “to make up” or “to be made up of,” depending on sentence structure.

Alright! Now let’s take a look at how to paraphrase the word “percentage” to help you achieve a higher vocabulary band score!

Continue to next part:

Part 3

Sometimes, data in IELTS Writing Task 1 are expressed in percentages. To avoid repetition, percentages can be replaced by fractions.

One challenge in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is how to report all the data shown in a chart or graph. Something that can help improve your vocabulary band score is paraphrasing the word percentage.

In this section, we’ll cover how to paraphrase percentages using different vocabulary and the language of approximation. It takes a bit of practice to use these naturally in your report, but doing so accurately can help you achieve a Band 7 or higher.

First, let’s look at how to paraphrase percentages using different vocabulary. Sometimes, data in IELTS Writing Task 1 are expressed in percentages. To avoid repetition, percentages can be replaced by fractions. For example:

10%	one in ten
20%	a fifth
25%	one quarter / a quarter
33%	a third
40%	two fifths
50%	half
60%	three fifths
67%	two thirds
70%	seven out of ten
75%	three quarters
80%	four fifths
dropped by 50%	halved

Using the language of approximation instead of numbers can help you achieve a higher score in the vocabulary criterion.

If the percentage is not an exact round number (for example, 51% or 23%), we can use approximations. For example:

12%	Slightly more than one in ten
15%	Less than a fifth
23%	Less than a third
28%	Slightly more than a quarter
30%	Just under / below a third
35%	Just over / above a third
51%	Just over / above half

Let’s look at some examples of paraphrasing percentages:

1. 40% of people stated that comfort was a factor in driving to work.

= Two fifths of the people polled stated that comfort was a factor in driving to work.

2. The proportion of people stating that they cycled to work to reduce pollution stood at 30%.

= The proportion of people stating that they cycled to work to reduce pollution stood at just under a third.

3. 11% of people said that driving to work was safer than cycling.

= Slightly more than one in ten people said that driving to work was safer than cycling.

4. 15% of people stated that they cycled to work because they did not have to worry about parking.

= Less than a fifth of people stated that they cycled to work because they did not have to worry about parking.

5. Subway ridership dropped by 50% between 1999 and 2004.

= Subway ridership was halved between 1999 and 2004.

This is the final section of the lesson. I'm ready to start the review exercises!

Review Exercise (1/3)

Complete the ielts academic writing task1 selection below

The pie chart below depicts energy generation by fuel type in the UK in the years 2014 and 2018. Fill in the gaps with the correct word from the options.

Model Essay:

The pie charts illustrate (1) electricity generated by five different forms of fuel in the United Kingdom in 2014 and 2018.

Overall, in both years, gas and nuclear remained important sources of energy (2) over half the UK’s energy needs with little change. In contrast, the use of renewables to generate power almost doubled at the expense of coal which significantly declined.

In 2014, energy production in the UK (3) 30.1% gas and 22.5% nuclear power. In 2018, energy produced by gas and nuclear fell marginally to 51.7% due to a 0.9% decrease in the use of nuclear power.

On the other hand, while there was an approximate (4) increase in the use of renewables over the two years, coal use decreased significantly over the same period from 28.4% to around a fifth (18.1%) in 2016. Oil use remained unchanged in both years (5) 4%.

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Complete the ielts academic writing task1 fill the gap below

Try this exercise below using the statistics in brackets to help you. Then check your answers. More than one answer is possible.

1. According to the pie chart, of imports came from India in 2012. (75%)

2. Oil accounted for of electricity production. (80%)

3. Production of TVs in the period between 2012 and 2014. (dropped by 50%)

4. Mobile calls showed a gradual rise of from 2000 to 2001. (23%)

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Complete the ielts academic writing task1 fill the gap below

The table below shows the number of visitors to Ashdown museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished. The charts show the results of surveys asking visitors how satisfied they were with their visit, during the same two periods. Fill the gaps with the correct word from the options.

Model Essay:

The table illustrates the number of people who visited Ashdown museum in the year before and the year after refurbishment. Visitors were surveyed about their satisfaction during their visit, the pie charts indicate the result of the surveys in the same two periods.

Overall, In the year after refurbishment, visitor numbers had increased considerably which indicated that they were much happier about their visit. Prior to the renovation, a larger number of people expressed dissatisfaction with their visit.

In the year before refurbishment total visitor numbers stood at 74, 000. (1) those were very satisfied with their time at the museum. On the same note, (2)visitors indicated that they were satisfied. In contrast, (3) of total visitors showed they were dissatisfied. (4) people said they had been very dissatisfied before renovations were made to the museum. A small minority did not respond to the survey before or after the renovation work.

With regards to the year after refurbishment work was carried out, there was an extra 18,000 visitors, totalling 92,000. In addition, the charts show a considerable change in the number of people who claimed they were happy with their visit to the museum. The number of people who were satisfied jumped by 10%, this time they polled at more than a third. Likewise the number of very satisfied visitors increased to almost two fifths. In comparison to the year prior to refurbishment, dissatisfaction levels saw a sharp decline and dropped from two fifths to less than a fifth. Very dissatisfied visitors had (5).

Options

two fifths
Halved
Less than a fifth of
One in ten
Just under a third of

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Lesson 2 How to write about percentages

Lesson Introduction

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Review Exercise (1/3)

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Lesson 2 How to write about percentages

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Lesson Introduction

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