Writing · Unit 3: Core strategies
W23: Task 1 pie charts
Target band 6.5 to 7
Pie charts show parts of a whole. Each slice is a share, usually a percentage. Often you get two pie charts, for two different years or two different groups, and you compare them. The key skills are describing proportions in different ways and spotting the biggest changes between the charts.
Why this matters
Pie charts tempt students to write "X is 25%, Y is 30%, Z is 15%" for every slice. That's a list, not a report. The examiner wants to see you compare shares and use varied language for proportions.
Language for proportions
| Percentage | Words you can use |
|---|---|
| 75% | three quarters |
| 50% | half |
| 33% | a third, one in three |
| 25% | a quarter |
| 20% | a fifth, one in five |
| 10% | a tenth, one in ten |
| 52% | just over half, a slight majority |
| 48% | just under half, nearly half |
| 5% | a small fraction, a tiny proportion |
Useful verbs: accounted for, made up, represented, comprised.
- "Housing accounted for 35% of spending."
- "Food made up a quarter of the budget."
The data
Two pie charts show how an average household in a city spent its monthly budget in 2005 and 2025.
| Category | 2005 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Food | 40% | 28% |
| Housing | 25% | 32% |
| Transport | 10% | 12% |
| Education | 10% | 15% |
| Entertainment | 5% | 8% |
| Other | 10% | 5% |
(For your video, show these as two pie charts side by side.)
Finding the story
- Food was the biggest share in 2005, but fell a lot.
- Housing became the biggest share by 2025.
- Education and entertainment both grew.
- "Other" halved.
Model answer (about 180 words)
The pie charts compare how a typical city household divided its monthly spending across six categories in 2005 and 2025.
Overall, the biggest change was a shift away from food towards housing, which replaced food as the largest expense. Spending on education and entertainment also rose, while the "other" category shrank.
In 2005, food clearly dominated household budgets, accounting for 40% of spending. By 2025, however, this share had fallen to just over a quarter (28%). Over the same period, housing rose from a quarter of the budget to almost a third (32%), making it the single largest category.
Among the smaller categories, education saw the most notable growth, increasing from 10% to 15%. Entertainment and transport also rose slightly, to 8% and 12% respectively. In contrast, spending classed as "other" halved, from 10% to 5%.
Why this answer works
- Overview names the key shift: food down, housing up and now largest.
- Varied proportion language: just over a quarter, almost a third, halved.
- Grouping: big categories in one paragraph, small categories in the other.
- Comparisons across years, not two separate descriptions.
Try it yourself
Rewrite these using proportion words:
- Housing was 25% in 2005.
- Education was 15% in 2025.
- Food was 40% in 2005.
Sample answers: 1) Housing made up a quarter of spending in 2005. 2) Education accounted for 15% in 2025, up by half from 2005. 3) Food represented two fifths of the budget in 2005.
Honest note
Don't force fraction words where they don't fit. 28% is not "a third". Use just over a quarter, or simply give the number. Accuracy always comes first.
Your task today
Find a pie chart task in a Cambridge book. Write it without using the word "percent" more than three times.