Writing · Free lesson
IELTS Task 1 comparisons: keep the units and year
A chart value of 40 may mean 40 visits, 40,000 visits or 40 percent. Read the label before writing the number.
Professor Scott MendozaThe short answer
Attach each figure to its place, year and unit. If the data says annual visits in thousands, 40 means 40,000 visits. Compare East and West within the same stated year, and keep visits as visits rather than changing them to individual people.
A figure is only meaningful with its label.
Use this original dataset: annual library visits, measured in thousands. In 2024, East has 40 and West 25. In 2025, East has 45 and West 50. For 2024, East records 40,000 visits compared with 25,000 at West. That sentence keeps the year and unit aligned. It does not tell us how many unique people visited.
Annual library visits, in thousands
2024: East 40 | West 25
2025: East 45 | West 50
In 2024, East recorded 40,000 visits, compared with 25,000 at West.
One person can make several visits. Visits and visitors are not interchangeable unless the dataset explicitly counts people.
Check three labels
Year
2025
Places and figures
East 45; West 50
Unit and comparison
In 2025, West recorded 50,000 visits, compared with 45,000 at East.
Try it now
Keep the labels attached
Read all answers and explanations
The unit is thousands of visits. What does East 40 in 2024 mean?
40,000 visits in 2024Multiply the displayed 40 by 1,000 and retain visits. The data does not count unique people.
Which sentence accurately compares the libraries in 2025?
West recorded 50,000 visits; East recorded 45,000.In 2025, West has 50 and East 45. The first swaps places; the last takes West 25 from 2024.
What can these visit totals tell us about unique visitors?
The unique visitor count is not supplied.A visit total does not reveal how many different people made those visits.
Put it into practice
Repair the unit in a comparison
Use the 2025 figures above. Keep the places and year, but correctly report the unit and amounts.
In 2025, East had 45 visitors and West had 50 visitors.
See a model answer
In 2025, East recorded 45,000 visits and West recorded 50,000 visits.
The revision preserves the data instead of merely making the numbers look larger.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Must I repeat visits after every figure?
Not if the unit remains clear. You can state it once and omit it in a closely linked comparison, but never lose or change it.
East recorded 40,000 visits, compared with 25,000 at West.
Can I explain why the numbers changed?
Only if the supplied information supports that explanation. These figures alone do not identify a cause.
West recorded more visits in 2025 than in 2024.
Take it into your day
Keep year, place, number and unit together.
Your next step · Available on Udemy
Build the English for precise comparisons.
The English Grammar and English Speaking Master Course supports broader grammar and sentence-building foundations. It can help you express comparisons clearly while the dedicated IELTS course is coming soon; it is not a complete exam-preparation course.
Explore the course English Master Course: English Grammar and English Speaking