Writing Part B: Picture and Chart Essay
Writing Part B is worth 20 points and asks for 160–200 words based on a picture (typically English 1) or a chart (typically English 2). The scoring rewards a clear three-part structure, accurate description, genuine interpretation and a brief reasoned comment. Description alone, however fluent, cannot reach the top band.
A three-paragraph plan
- Description: for a picture, two or three sentences on who and what is shown, including the caption's irony; for a chart, the leading trend with two or three figures, not every data point.
- Interpretation: what the detail means, what causes it, or what contrast it exposes.
- Comment: a position, a reason, and one implication or recommendation.
Language for data and images
- Trends: rose steadily from 32% to 48%, declined sharply, levelled off, accounted for.
- Comparison: while, by contrast, twice as many as.
- Pictures: describe concretely ('a man stares at his phone while a child waits beside him'), then interpret. Avoid empty openers such as 'As is vividly shown' when they add no content.
Worked example
Chart: public transport use rises from 32% to 48% (2018–2022); car use falls from 45% to 30%. Paragraph 1: 'Between 2018 and 2022 the share of respondents using public transport rose from 32% to 48%, while car use fell from 45% to 30%.' Paragraph 2: 'The shift is likely driven by rising fuel costs and improved bus and metro coverage, which make commuting by car less attractive.' Paragraph 3: 'Cities should build on this momentum by improving last-mile connections, so that the trend survives the next rise in fuel prices.' Reasoning: two contrasting trends are sufficient; 'while' marks the contrast; the interpretation offers mechanisms rather than restating the figures.
Traps that cost marks
- Listing every number and leaving no space for interpretation.
- Using a memorized template that does not fit the prompt's actual content.
- Omitting the comment paragraph, which caps the score.
- Overrunning 200 words with description only.
- Moralizing in a picture essay before describing what is visible.