A Simple Guide To Writing Well On IELTS Writing Task 1 - Questions Type 5: A Process Diagram/A Flow Chart/A Cycle Diagram

Tips:
Try to answer these questions to yourself first:
- What happens?
- How does it happen?
- What is the purpose of this diagram?
- What principles are involved?
- How does it work?
- Why does it work that way?

- make sure you understand what the important stages of the flow chart or diagram are
- make sure to check the order in which stages come in
- do not include minor details
- maintain logical order of your writing
- use adequate linking expressions
- write the whole passage with unity and coherence

Grammar tips:
- use Present Simple to report actions which happen regularly in a process
- for natural events (rain, clouds formation, erosion etc.) use the active forms of verbs
- for artificial events use the passive forms of verbs as the human subjects are usually ignored in order to focus on what is being done

- use ‘by’ when you need to report that a tool is used to perform a stage of a process

for tools = It is done using/through the use of a…
for methods = It is done through/via…

Example Reports:
(All reports provided here would achieve Band 8&9)

1. The diagram below shows the process of using water to produce electricity. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.


The picture explains the process through which water is used to produce electrical power. All in all, it comprises over ten stages. It is clear that hydroelectric power is generated using water from the sea through a relatively sophisticated procedure.
The process begins when seawater is heated by the sun and evaporates to form small clouds in the sky. Next, they merge into a storm cloud, which then rains over the mountain. This rainwater is gathered in the reservoir behind a dam. The following steps involve a pipe which connects the reservoir to a turbine as well as a pump, and is controlled using a valve. Once this valve is opened, water flows into the turbine and rotates it to produce electrical current, following which it is pumped back into the reservoir. After this, the electricity produced by the turbine is transferred to the transformer station through high voltage cables. The last stage happens when the electrical power is being delivered to domestic and industrial consumers as well as educational and medical facilities.

2. The diagram shows how an Internet search engine works.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
 

 
To do an Internet search, a web browser or a search engine are used. They are programmes that help people find information from hundreds of thousands of webpages. According to the picture, there are five stages in the process of finding information on the Internet.
The first step of the procedure is that the user tells the search engine what to look for. This is done by typing in the key words of the topic: the more words are typed, the narrower the search will be. Subsequently, a programme called a spider starts to search for the information on the most popular websites and most heavily used servers. At the same time, the information on these sites is recorded and then the links to the other sites should be followed so that the search spreads over the most popular parts of the web.
In the next stage, the search engine builds a list of words, and notes where these words are found. After that, it orders and presents the information in a way one can use, giving links to the pages according to how often the word appears on a webpage. The final part of the procedure is that the search engine saves the data to be accessed later, meaning that the website that was looked at previously can be easily found.

3. The diagram shows how an ATM transactions work worldwide.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

 
The diagram shows how a transaction works at au automated teller machine in five steps, allowing us to withdraw money from any participating bank in the world.
First of all, Mr Smith inserts his card and PIN into the ATM at a local bank abroad. An electronic message is sent to the central network which is passed on to Mr Smith’s own bank in his home country. The local bank will not dispense the cash until it knows the funds are available in Mr Smith’s own account.
As soon as the home country bank receives the request and checks the balance, the money is debited from the account. The bank then replies to the message via the network, stating that the local bank can provide Mr Smith with the amount requested. Mr Smith retrieves the money and his card and goes on his way. Later that day a settlement occurs between the two banks facilitated by the central network.