Writing
Rise, fall, level off and fluctuate, with the adverbs that show how much. Academic module only. With a practice exercise.
Describing trends in IELTS Task 1 means saying which direction the data moved and how sharply. A trend is the general direction visible in the chart, and the language that describes it is the single most useful thing to prepare for the Academic module.
There are only three directions: up, down, and neither. What varies is the strength of the word, and whether you use a verb or a noun. Being able to say the same thing both ways is what stops your answer repeating itself.
The language
Three directions, each with verbs and nouns, plus the adverbs that grade them.
Verbs: rise, increase, grow, climb, go up, soar, rocket.
Nouns: a rise, an increase, growth, a climb, a surge, an upward trend.
Verbs: fall, decrease, decline, drop, dip, plunge, plummet, deteriorate.
Nouns: a fall, a decrease, a decline, a drop, a dip, a slump.
Verbs: remain steady, level off, stabilise, stay constant, plateau.
Nouns: a plateau, stability, a levelling off.
Verbs: fluctuate, vary, oscillate.
Nouns: a fluctuation, variation. Use these when the line moves both ways without a clear direction.
Large: sharply, dramatically, significantly, considerably, steeply.
Small: slightly, marginally, gradually, steadily.
Sales rose sharply, or there was a sharp rise.
Verb: sales rose sharply. Noun: there was a sharp rise in sales. Switching between the two is what stops your report repeating one sentence shape.
Method
Six points that separate a Band 6 report from a Band 7 one.
Sharply goes with the verb, sharp with the noun. Rose sharply, or a sharp rise. Rose sharp is an error.
Plummet and rocket are strong words. A ten per cent change is not a plunge, and overstating is marked as imprecise rather than dramatic.
It means got worse, which implies a judgement. Use it for quality or condition, not for a neutral figure such as sales.
Alternating between the verb and noun forms changes the shape of the sentence, which is what Grammatical Range assesses.
Peaked at for the highest point, reached a low of or bottomed out at for the lowest. Both need the preposition.
Describe the trends that behave alike together. A report that follows the lines one by one reads as a list rather than an analysis.
Practice
Decide what each word or phrase describes.
Upward · Downward · Neither up nor down
Some words also carry a degree, such as sharply or slightly. Watch for those as well as the direction.
1TO DETERIORATE
Downward. It means to get worse, so it implies a judgement as well as a direction. Use it for quality or condition rather than for a neutral figure.
2A PLATEAU
Neither. A plateau is a period where the figure stays level. As a verb, to plateau means to stop rising or falling.
3TO CLIMB
Upward. A near synonym of rise and increase, useful for avoiding repetition.
4Which is correct?
Rose sharply. An adverb modifies the verb. With the noun form you would write a sharp rise, using the adjective.
5Figures went up and down repeatedly with no clear direction. Which word fits?
Fluctuated. It describes repeated movement in both directions, which is different from a plateau, where the figure stays level.
6Which says the same thing as sales fell slightly?
A. The noun form takes an adjective: a slight fall. Being able to write both versions is what stops a Task 1 report repeating one sentence shape.
That is the commonest Lexical Resource problem in Task 1, and switching between verb and noun forms fixes half of it immediately.
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Recognising the words is the easy part. Using them accurately, with the right preposition and the right degree, is what is marked.
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The general direction the data moves in: upward, downward, or level. Describing trends accurately is the core skill in Academic Task 1.
Both. Sales rose sharply and there was a sharp rise in sales say the same thing, and alternating between them adds the range that Band 7 requires.
Yes, for genuinely dramatic changes. Using them for a small change is marked as imprecise rather than impressive.
Fluctuate means moving up and down repeatedly. Plateau means staying level. They are opposites, not synonyms.
No. This is Academic Task 1 language. General Training Task 1 is a letter and needs no trend vocabulary.
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Using the right trend word is one criterion. Whether you selected the right trends to describe is another, and only an examiner can tell you.
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