Line graph (trends over time)
One or more lines showing how values change over a period. Tests trend language and comparison across time.
How to answer
- 1State what the graph shows, the units, and the time span in the introduction.
- 2In the overview, name the overall trends (rose overall, most volatile, highest throughout).
- 3Group lines that behave similarly; describe movement with figures at key points.
- 4Use the right tense — past for past dates, future forms for projections.
Plan (before you write)
Underline start value, end value, peaks/troughs and any crossover points before writing.
Structure
- Intro — paraphrase: what, where, units, period.
- Overview — the 1–2 biggest trends across all lines (no data).
- Body 1 — the line(s) with the most notable movement, with figures.
- Body 2 — the remaining line(s) and any comparison/crossover.
Useful language
- rose/increased/climbed; fell/declined/dropped; fluctuated; levelled off; peaked at; bottomed out at
- a sharp/steady/gradual/marginal + increase (noun) · increased sharply/steadily (adverb)
- roughly, just under/over, approximately; over the following decade; by the end of the period
- whereas, while, in contrast, compared with; overtook, surpassed
Common mistakes
- No overview, or an overview stuffed with numbers.
- Describing every single data point instead of selecting key features.
- Wrong preposition/tense: 'increased of 20%', 'in 1990 it will rise'.
Sample question
The line graph below shows the number of visitors (in millions) to three London museums between 2010 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The line graph illustrates how many people, in millions, visited three museums in London — the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate Modern — over a ten-year period from 2010 to 2020. Overall, visitor numbers rose at all three museums across the decade, with the British Museum remaining the most popular throughout. The Tate Modern, however, saw the steepest growth and closed the gap on its rivals by 2020. In 2010, the British Museum attracted around 5.8 million visitors, comfortably ahead of the National Gallery at approximately 4.9 million. Both figures climbed steadily, and by 2020 the British Museum had reached roughly 6.6 million while the National Gallery stood at about 5.8 million. The Tate Modern began the period as the least visited of the three, with just 4.7 million visitors in 2010. Its numbers then increased far more rapidly than the others, overtaking the National Gallery briefly around 2018 before finishing at approximately 5.9 million — almost level with the two long-established galleries.
Why it scores
- A clear, data-free overview names the two main trends (all rose; Tate grew fastest).
- Data is grouped and compared, not listed; figures are hedged ('around', 'approximately').
- Range of trend language and comparatives; accurate past tense throughout.