How to read an IELTS Graph Question
- STEP 1: We carefully read the graph
heading. It says "Inflow of foreign workers into Australia 1992-2001".
Notice the years! It's 1992-2001. This means you shall write the whole
graph in the past tense. Similarly, most charts will have a 'minimum'
and 'maximum' range. Occasionally, you might get a graph that depicts
future/projected trends.
- STEP 2: at the extreme left-hand side
(the Y-axis), we read "Thousands." The Y-axis tells us the value/unit in
which the data is represented.
- STEP 3: at the extreme right-hand side, we read two categories (the colour-coded legend), "Permanent Settlers" and "Temporary Workers."
- STEP 4: Notice there is a constant gap
of 1 year from 1992 to 2001. The graph contains data for a total of 10
years. You will most likely exceed the word limit if you start comparing
all ten years individually. We may either split the graph into '5 and
5' years (Paragraph 2 will highlight 1992 - 1996, and Paragraph 3 will
highlight 1997 - 2001) or split the graph based on the two types of
workers. Make sure you highlight patterns that indicate a rise, decline,
or constant trend. For example, from an overall observation of this
sample graph, it is evident that while the inflow stayed consistent for
the first five years, there was a constant inflow of the number of
permanent settlers and temporary workers to Australia starting in 1997.
The trend continued till 2001.
