Skip to the tool
formerly ielts.gg
Start

Line graph: Solar installations and cost

Pick out the main features of this line graph for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

Line graph

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the average cost of solar panel installation and the number of installations in one country between 2008 and 2022.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Solar installations and cost
Line graph: Solar installations and cost (index (2008 = 100)). The values are in the data table below.index (2008 = 100)05001,0001,5002,0002,500200820102013201620192022
  • Installation cost
  • Number of installations
Show data table
Solar installations and cost (index (2008 = 100))
CategoryInstallation costNumber of installations
2008100100
201082160
201355420
201638900
2019281,500
2022222,300

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, as the cost of installing solar panels fell steadily, the number of installations soared.
  2. 2The cost index declined to 22 by 2022, meaning installation cost had fallen by almost four-fifths.
  3. 3Installations rose twenty-three-fold to 2,300, with the fastest growth coming between 2010 and 2016.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.

Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (174 words)

The line graph shows how the cost of installing solar panels and the number of installations changed in one country between 2008 and 2022, with both measures indexed to 100 in 2008.

Overall, installation costs fell steadily while the number of installations grew enormously, which suggests that cheaper panels encouraged people to buy them.

The cost index declined most quickly in the early years, falling from 100 in 2008 to 82 in 2010 and 55 in 2013. The rate of decline then slowed, with the index reaching 38 in 2016 and 28 in 2019, and it finished at 22 in 2022, less than a quarter of the starting level.

The number of installations moved in the opposite direction. It rose from 100 to 160 in 2010 and then grew far more strongly, to 420 in 2013 and 900 in 2016. The upward trend continued, reaching 1,500 in 2019 and 2,300 in 2022, which means that installations were 23 times higher than in 2008, while costs were less than a quarter of their original level.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
installation costthe price of fitting equipment
fall steadilygo down consistently
soarrise rapidly
inverse relationshipwhen one rises the other falls
index (2008 = 100)a figure compared with a base year
increase twenty-foldbecome twenty times larger

Guides

More questions like this

All line graph questions

Getting ready for IELTS?

Get your study plan

More free IELTS tools

All free tools

Speaking topic generator

Answer random Part 1, 2 and 3 questions on an exam timer.

IELTS band score calculator

Average your four skill bands, rounded the way IELTS rounds them.

IELTS score converter

Compare an IELTS band with TOEFL, Duolingo and PTE scores and CEFR levels.

University IELTS requirements

Look up the IELTS score a university asks for.