4.2. Tables, Pies and Combinations
Pick the cells that matter in a table, describe a pie chart as shares of one whole, and cover two visuals with one overview.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the share of electricity generated from four sources in one country in 2010 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| Source | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Gas | 70 | 45 |
| Wind | 8 | 28 |
| Solar | 2 | 12 |
| Other | 20 | 15 |
Write at least 150 words.
The short version
A table gives more figures than you can use. Report the largest, the smallest and the biggest change.
A pie chart splits one total into slices. Describe each slice as a share: nearly half, just over a quarter.
Two visuals in one task get one overview that covers both, then one paragraph each.
A share is not an amount. A smaller slice of a bigger total can still be more.
What you have to do
The test shows a table, a pie chart, or two visuals side by side, with an instruction line above. You write a report of at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. It needs an introduction, an overview (one or two sentences naming the main pattern) and two detail paragraphs with a few figures. It is marked on four things. First, whether the overview and the figures cover the task. Then organisation, vocabulary and grammar.
Shares against amounts
A percentage is a share of one total. The table above gives shares, so wind's 28% in 2020 is a slice of that year's electricity, not a number of units. Write about shares with share words: accounted for, made up, took the largest share. Only say an amount rose if the task shows amounts. If it shows both, say which one you are reporting each time.
Step by step
- 1Read the instruction line, then the headers and the unit
The instruction line says what is measured, where and when. Then read the column headers, the row labels and the unit. On the table above, the rows are four sources and the columns are 2010 and 2020. The unit is a percentage share, so each column adds up to 100. On a pie chart, find the total the slices split. With two visuals, note what the two share, usually a year or a unit.
- 2Decide what the task demands: one overview, then grouped detail
Every Task 1 wants an overview first: one or two sentences naming the main pattern, with no figures. Then two short paragraphs of detail, with rows that moved the same way grouped together. On the table above, ask which sources took a bigger share in 2020 than in 2010 and which took a smaller one. That split is your overview and your two groups, and with two visuals the one overview must mention both.
- 3Paraphrase the instruction line in your first sentence
Your first sentence says what the task shows, in your own words. Change the verbs and the nouns and keep the facts. Here, shows the share of electricity generated from four sources becomes compares the proportion of electricity that came from four sources. Keep the years and the unit exactly as shown. With two visuals, name both in this one sentence: The table gives the totals, while the pie chart shows the shares.
- 4Decide what to leave out
You cannot report every cell, so choose the largest figure, the smallest, and the biggest change, and let the rest go. On the table above, that is the fall in gas and the rise in wind and solar. The rest gets a half sentence. Never turn a share into an amount: solar produced six times more electricity is not in the table, only solar's share is. Never write because.
- 5If you are stuck, use the fallback plan
Split the rows into those that rose and those that fell between the two dates. Write one overview sentence that states the split. Then write one sentence for each group, with two figures in each. On a pie chart alone, order the slices from largest to smallest and write about the top two and the bottom one. With two visuals, add one sentence that links them, such as which source still led in the later year.
Gas remained the largest single source in both years, but its share fell steeply, from 70% of generation in 2010 to 45% in 2020. The two renewable sources moved the other way: wind climbed from 8% to 28%, and solar from just 2% to 12%. The remaining sources dipped slightly, from a fifth of the total to 15%.
- TaskThe paragraph opens with what stayed true, not with a number.
- CoherenceWind and solar are grouped because they behaved alike, so two rows take one sentence.
- TaskA share stays a share. Nothing here claims how much electricity solar produced.
- VocabularyThe smallest change gets a half sentence and a small word, not a paragraph.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Quiz time5 questions
Each drill gives you the figures or the line it needs, so nothing has to be looked up. Practise one judgement at a time.
Paraphrase an opening that names two visuals
This first sentence copies the instruction line word for word. Rewrite it in your own words, keeping the years and both visuals.
Read thisInstruction line: The table and pie chart below show the number of visitors to four museums in 2015 and 2023, and how the 2023 visitors were divided by age group.
The table and pie chart below show the number of visitors to four museums in 2015 and 2023, and how the 2023 visitors were divided by age group.
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Pick the cells worth reporting
A detail paragraph has room for two or three comparisons. Choose the cells to lead with.
Read thisWater use by sector, % of the total, 2000 and 2020. Farming: 62 to 58. Industry: 22 to 21. Homes: 12 to 18. Other: 4 to 3.
Which two points should the detail paragraphs lead with?
Describe a slice as a share
Read the four slices, then choose the sentence that reports the chart correctly.
Read thisPie chart: how one city's household waste was handled in 2021. Landfill 48%, recycling 27%, burning 20%, composting 5%.
Which sentence reports the pie chart correctly?
Spot the share treated as an amount
Four sentences report the table. One claims something the percentages cannot support. Choose it.
Read thisShare of new cars sold, by fuel, %. Petrol: 80 in 2015, 55 in 2022. Electric: 1 in 2015, 20 in 2022. Diesel: 19 in 2015, 25 in 2022.
Which sentence contains the error?
One overview for two visuals
Two visuals are described in words. Choose the sentence that works as the overview for both.
Read thisBar chart: visitors to a national park, 1.2 million in 2010 rising to 2.1 million in 2020. Pie chart: how the 2020 visitors arrived. Car 65%, coach 20%, bicycle 10%, on foot 5%.
Which sentence is the overview for both visuals?
The full model
Below is an overview that covers both visuals. Then comes the 2020 column of the table, drawn as a pie chart, with three ways to say a slice. Read the overview first, then check each card against its slice.
Overall, the table shows a shift from gas towards wind and solar between 2010 and 2020, while the pie chart shows that gas still took the largest single share in 2020.
Both visuals are named in one sentence. The detail then splits into one paragraph each.
The same 2020 column from the table, drawn as slices of one whole.
Gas accounted for nearly half of all electricity generated.
Wind made up just over a quarter of the total.
Solar supplied roughly one eighth, the smallest share.
Your turn to write2 questions
What the percentages let you say
Choose the only claim these two visuals actually support.
Wind went from 8% of generation in 2010 to 28% in 2020. Which claim is safe to make?
Write the overview
Write one or two sentences naming the main pattern across both visuals. Use few or no numbers. Those belong in the body paragraphs.
Table (share of electricity, %), 2010 → 2020: gas 70 → 45, wind 8 → 28, solar 2 → 12, other 20 → 15. Pie (2020 shares): gas 45%, wind 28%, other 15%, solar 12%.
0 / 16 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Tips
- Read the unit before the figures
If the header says %, every figure is a share of that column's total. If it says thousands, 45 is 45,000. Say which in your first sentence.
- Join two visuals with one word
Put while between them: the table shows X, while the pie chart shows Y. Then give each visual its own paragraph.
- Round a slice to a fraction
48% is nearly half, 27% is just over a quarter, 12% is roughly one in eight. The fraction shows you read the slice as part of a whole.
Recap
Read the headers and the unit first, then paraphrase the instruction line in your own words.
Write one overview that covers everything in the task, then a paragraph for each group or each visual.
Report a few cells, describe a pie in shares, and never turn a share into an amount.
Next: maps and processes, which have no numbers at all.