Your learning plan · Continue · Review →
Task 1 — the language of change
IntroducedYour saved position stays in this browser. Resuming does not complete the lesson or answer its questions.
A share can rise by points or by a percentage
-
Moving from 20% to 35% gives a 15-point change and a different relative percentage change. Decide which quantity you mean before choosing the phrase.
-
Up: rise, increase, climb, grow, go up; and steeply — soar, rocket, surge. Down: fall, decrease, decline, drop, go down; and steeply — plummet, plunge, slump.
-
Neither: level off, plateau, remain stable, stay constant, hold steady. Up and down: fluctuate, vary, be erratic. The turn: peak at, reach a high of, bottom out, hit a low of.
A line that stays flat is allowed to have a quiet day.
Match each verb to the movement it describes.
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Choose a verb that matches the shown movement. An adverb can then describe its size or pace when the data supports that detail.
Match the preposition to the quantity
- rise BY 20 — the size of the change. rise TO 20 — where it ended. rise FROM 10 TO 30 — both, in one phrase. a rise OF 20 — the noun form takes of.
- ⚠ increased of 20%, increased to 20% when you mean by, and rise from 10 until 30 confuse the size of a change with its endpoint. Use the preposition that matches the quantity you mean.
Sales went from 40 to 60. Which sentence is correct?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
'By' gives the size of the change (20); 'to' would give the end point (60). 'Of' goes with the noun — 'a rise of 20'.
Per cent and percentage point
- A rise from 20% to 24% is a rise of 4 percentage points. It is also a rise of 20%, because 4 is a fifth of 20.
- ⚠ Writing "a rise of 4%" for that change is a factual error, not a style choice, and an examiner reads it as inaccuracy. For these values, from 20% to 24% reports the endpoints accurately; still check the visual’s labels and units.
Unemployment went from 6% to 9%. How big was the rise?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
3 percentage points. It is also a rise of 50%, because 3 is half of 6 — but writing 'a rise of 3%' is a factual error.
Comparison and approximation
- Comparison: twice as many as, three times the figure for, by far the largest, slightly higher than, roughly the same as, half the level of. Approximation: just over, just under, nearly, around, approximately, a little more than.
- Proportion: a third of, two thirds of, the vast majority of, a small minority of. Use approximation deliberately. Just under a quarter is useful when the exact value is not needed; 24.3% is appropriate when that precision supports the comparison.
Which option replaces the exact value 24.3% with an accurate comparison to a familiar fraction?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Just under a quarter compares the share with 25%. The exact figure is also accurate, but does not perform the requested rewrite. Neither wording automatically earns a higher score.
Turn a verb into a noun, and vary the sentence
- Sales rose sharply → there was a sharp rise in sales. The figure fell steadily → a steady fall in the figure. These give two grammatical ways to express one fact. Range also includes other suitable structures; varied wording should preserve the meaning.
- Pair it with the adverbs — sharply, steadily, gradually, dramatically, slightly, marginally — and one chart can be described in a dozen ways without repeating a sentence pattern.
Rewrite with a noun: 'The figure fell steadily.' → 'There was a steady ___ in the figure.'
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Fall is a noun here; decline and drop also fit. Changing structure can give variety while keeping the same accurate meaning.
Distinguish the size of a change from its endpoint
- In original survey data, cycling rises from 20% to 35%. It rises TO 35%, BY 15 percentage points, and BY 75% relative to its starting share: 15 divided by 20 is 0.75.
- “A rise of 15 percentage points” uses the noun form. Choose the quantity first; changing the preposition cannot rescue a wrong calculation.
- Percentage points compare percentages by subtraction. Relative percentage change divides by the starting value; the two numbers answer different questions.
- Name the start, finish and kind of change before selecting by, to or of.
- Apply the distinction to the transfer check below. These are original teaching cases, not official items or band predictions.
Language and format checked on 2 October 2026: official IELTS Writing guide. Our numerical cases are original examples.
Match the distinctions in this worked case.
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
“A rise of 15 percentage points” uses the noun form. Choose the quantity first; changing the preposition cannot rescue a wrong calculation.
What is the percentage-point increase from 20% to 35%?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
In original survey data, cycling rises from 20% to 35%. It rises TO 35%, BY 15 percentage points, and BY 75% relative to its starting share: 15 divided by 20 is 0.75. “A rise of 15 percentage points” uses the noun form. Choose the quantity first; changing the preposition cannot rescue a wrong calculation.