Describing Pie Charts

Pie charts show how a whole is divided into parts, expressed as percentages or proportions. They are common in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, either as a single pie chart, a pair for comparison, or combined with other visual types. This lesson provides the vocabulary, structures, and strategies for describing pie charts at Band 7+ level.

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What Pie Charts Show

A pie chart represents 100% of something, divided into segments (slices). Each segment shows the proportion of the whole that belongs to one category.

You may be asked to describe:

• A single pie chart — the breakdown of one dataset
• Two or more pie charts — comparing breakdowns across different times, places, or groups
• A pie chart combined with another visual — e.g., a pie chart and a table

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Essential Vocabulary for Proportions

Fractions and Proportions