LanguageCert Academic Writing Part 1: how to write the report from a chart

Writing Part 1 looks like a chart-description task, but the prompt asks for more than a description. A typical set of bullet points asks you to describe the main trends, explain them and say what happens next. Candidates who describe the chart well and then stop have answered one bullet in three. This guide covers how to read the input, plan in two minutes, build a 150 to 200 word report, and write trends, reasons and predictions in the right register.

For the task table, the four criteria and the general pitfalls, see LanguageCert Academic Writing, task by task. This guide is about Part 1 only.

What does Writing Part 1 ask you to write?

A formal response for a stated reader, based on an input. The prompt names who you are writing for, such as a council, a magazine or a tutor, and lists the content points to cover. The Handbook's task focus is to "respond appropriately to a given input to produce a formal response for an intended public audience", expressing stance, opinion, justification and argumentation.

What does the input look like?

The official practice papers pair a chart with a second source. Paper 1 gives a chart plus a timeline of developments. Paper 2 gives a bar chart plus three quotes from newspaper articles. Paper 3 asks you to report the findings of a survey. Each prompt then lists two or three bullet points, for example describing the main trends, giving or commenting on reasons, and predicting what will happen next.

The ScoreFluent bank follows the same idea: a chart, a short excerpt from an article or a quoted expert, and two or three bullets.

Do I have to answer the bullet points in order?

LanguageCert's tips for candidates say to consider all the content points and write a well-structured piece that addresses them one by one in the order they appear. Treat the bullets as your paragraph plan. If one of them is missing from your answer, Task Achievement, which measures whether you did what was asked, has less to reward.

How should I use the 20 minutes?

LanguageCert suggests 20 minutes for Part 1, 25 for Part 2 and 5 for reviewing, which is 2 minutes of planning and 3 minutes of final checks. Checked 15 and 16 October 2026.

Inside the two minutes of planning, do three things:

1. Read the reader and the bullets. Underline who you are writing for and what each bullet asks.
2. Read the chart. Note what is measured, over what period, the highest and lowest values, the biggest change and anything unusual. The tips say to note trends, key points and unusual data.
3. Give each bullet a sentence. Decide your reason and your prediction before you write the first line.

What structure fits 150 to 200 words?

Four short paragraphs, one per job. The word budget is ours:

• Introduction (about 25 words): what the report covers, using the chart's topic and period in your own words.
• Main trends or patterns (about 60 words): the overall movement, two or three key figures and one comparison.
• Reasons (about 45 words): two likely causes, with hedged language.
• Evaluation or prediction (about 45 words): what you expect, or whether you agree with the quoted view, and why.

That totals about 175 words and leaves room to stay under 200.

What language do I need for trends, reasons and predictions?

LanguageCert's tips suggest keeping a record of language for describing changes, trends and figures, using cause-and-effect language, and using tentative or hedging language for predictions. A starter set, ours:

• Change: rose sharply, edged up, fell steadily, peaked at, levelled off, remained stable.
• Comparison: twice as high as, less than half of, the gap narrowed from X to Y.
• Reasons: this may be due to, a likely cause is, as a result of, which probably reflects.
• Predictions: is likely to, could overtake, if current trends continue, it seems probable that.

Use the past simple for completed periods and keep to the chart's own units. The tips also say to avoid contractions, because they are not suitable for formal writing.

What tone does Part 1 need?

A formal or neutral tone with an objective voice. The tips describe Part 1 as a formal or neutral piece of writing that requires an objective tone. If a bullet asks whether you agree with a quoted view, say so plainly and give a reason. A short "I partly agree" is fine for a stance, and one of LanguageCert's own sample answers uses "I predict". Keep the rest impersonal ("the figures suggest", "this would imply").

What happens if I go over 200 words?

LanguageCert's tips say that extra words will not earn additional marks. The Test Taker Guide says you will not lose marks for exceeding the word count, but you will not receive extra marks either. Both sources say the same thing in effect: the limit is a target, not a source of credit.

Going over still costs you, because the time spent on extra sentences comes out of Part 2, which is worth more. The same tips tell you to write at least the minimum.

How is Writing Part 1 marked?

Each criterion is scored 0 to 8: Task Achievement, Accuracy and Range of Grammar, Accuracy and Range of Vocabulary, and Organisation (Coherence). Spelling accuracy is part of the vocabulary criterion, and punctuation is part of Organisation (Handbook, section 3). Checked 15 and 16 October 2026. The criteria and weighting are set out on the Writing page and in the scoring guide.

LanguageCert also publishes a writing booklet with sample Part 1 answers and examiner comments. Read a few before you write your own.

What mistakes should I avoid in Part 1?

• Reading out every number. A report selects. Two or three figures with a comparison do more than eight figures in a row.
• Skipping a bullet. If the prompt asks for a prediction and you stop at the trends, one content point has no answer.
• Unhedged predictions. "Electric cars will overtake petrol cars by 2026" claims certainty that the chart cannot give. "Could overtake within a few years" can be supported.
• Mixing tenses for the same period. Choose past for finished years and keep it.
• Contractions and chatty phrases. They sit badly with a formal reader.

Here is a worked example

This is a sample written by ScoreFluent for the electric-car prompt below. It shows structure. It is not an official LanguageCert sample answer, and we have not assigned it a score. It runs to 183 words.

Prompt: You have been asked to write a report for a national transport agency about electric cars. Use the information in the graph below to support your report.

Article excerpt: Several governments plan to end the sale of new petrol cars within fifteen years. A motoring journalist has argued that this deadline will be reached sooner than expected, because the cost of electric vehicles is falling quickly.

Bullets: Describe the main trends in the numbers of the two kinds of car. Explain possible reasons for these trends. Say whether you agree with the journalist's prediction.

Graph: New cars registered each year, by fuel type, in millions, for 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024.

• Electric: 0.02, 0.05, 0.11, 0.31, 0.62, 0.79
• Petrol and diesel: 2.45, 2.52, 2.31, 1.74, 1.32, 1.18

This report examines how new car registrations changed between 2015 and 2024, using figures for electric cars and for petrol and diesel cars.

Electric registrations rose throughout the period, from only 0.02 million in 2015 to 0.79 million in 2024, with the sharpest growth after 2019. Petrol and diesel registrations moved the other way. They edged up to 2.52 million in 2017 but then fell at every point shown, reaching 1.18 million in 2024, less than half the 2015 figure.

Several factors may explain these trends. Falling prices have probably made electric cars more affordable, while government deadlines and a wider network of charging points are likely to have encouraged drivers to switch.

I partly agree with the journalist. The gap between the two types narrowed from 2.43 million in 2015 to 0.39 million in 2024, so electric registrations could overtake petrol and diesel within a few years. However, ending petrol sales completely depends on more than falling costs, since it also requires adequate charging facilities and consistent government policy. Overall, the trend supports the journalist's view, although not necessarily the timetable suggested.

Notice the pattern: one paragraph per job, three figures at most per sentence, hedged reasons, and an answer to every bullet.

Practice items from the ScoreFluent bank (not real exam questions)

These are ScoreFluent practice items, not real LanguageCert prompts. Plan for two minutes, then write 150 to 200 words in about 20 minutes. The bank's bullets sometimes ask whether you agree with a quoted view. Chart data is shown as text.

Item 1: Household budgets (pie chart)

Prompt: You are writing a report for a consumer organisation about how families manage their money. Use the chart below to support your report.

Excerpt: Rising prices have made many families look closely at their monthly spending. A financial adviser says that housing now takes such a large share of income that other savings have almost disappeared.

Chart: How a typical household spends its monthly income. Housing 34%, food 16%, transport 13%, leisure and travel 10%, utilities 9%, savings 7%, other 11%.

Bullets: Describe how a typical household divides its monthly income. Explain some reasons for this pattern and say whether you agree with the adviser's view.

Item 2: Household water use (table)

Prompt: You have been asked to write a report for a water company on how households use water. Use the information in the table below to support your report.

Excerpt: As droughts become more common, water companies are urging customers to use less. Yet campaigners say that appeals to individual households ignore the much larger amounts used by farming and industry.

Table: Household water use per person per day, by purpose, in litres, 2022. Columns are washing and bathing, toilets, cooking and drinking, and garden and car. United States: 98, 71, 28, 103. Australia: 85, 58, 24, 74. Germany: 52, 33, 19, 7. India: 31, 14, 17, 4. Kenya: 18, 6, 12, 2.

Bullets: Describe the main patterns in household water use in the five countries. Explain some possible reasons for the differences and evaluate whether household appeals can make a real difference.

How can I practise Part 1 with scoring?

ScoreFluent shows the prompt and chart, takes your typed answer and returns a practice estimate against the four criteria, with an examiner report (5 credits). The estimate is not an official LanguageCert score. New accounts start with 40 free credits. Credits never expire and there is no subscription.

Start with 40 free credits →

Also in this series: Writing Part 2, the discursive essay. For speaking, start with Speaking Part 4, the chart presentation, which uses the same chart-reading skills. The full format is on the LanguageCert Academic hub.

Sources

ScoreFluent is an independent practice platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to LanguageCert or PeopleCert. Format and marking facts above come from LanguageCert's published documents. Checked 15 and 16 October 2026.

• LanguageCert Academic Qualification Handbook, version 9.0: the Writing 1 task, weighting, criteria and the off-topic rule.
• LanguageCert Academic tips for candidates: the time allocation, content points, tone and word-count advice.
• LanguageCert Academic Test Taker Guide: the word-count note and the marking summary.
• LanguageCert Academic writing booklet: sample answers with examiner comments.
• Official practice papers: the Writing Part 1 prompts and bullet points.
• LanguageCert Academic exam page: the 50-minute Writing total.