IELTS Reading Diagram Labelling: Strategy, Traps and Practice

Diagram labelling questions show a picture of something described in the passage, such as a machine, a building, a piece of equipment or a natural process, with numbered labels missing. You complete each label with words from the passage, within a word limit, or sometimes by choosing from a list.

The type is most common in Academic Reading, especially on descriptive passages that explain how something is built or how it works.

What it tests

• Following a description of physical layout or a process.
• Understanding position and direction words: above, beneath, at the base of, attached to, flows into.
• Matching visual information to written explanation.
• Accuracy with word limits and spelling.

Step-by-step strategy

1. Check the word limit and whether answers come from the passage or a list.
2. Study the diagram first. What is it? Which labels are already given? These are your anchors in the passage.
3. Find the section of the passage that describes the diagram. Scan for the given labels.
4. Work outwards from a given label. If the base is labelled, look for what the text says is above or next to it.
5. Note position and movement words as you read and check them against the picture.
6. Copy the words exactly from the passage, within the word limit.
7. Check each label makes sense for that part of the picture, for example that a moving part is not labelled with the name of a material.

Common traps

• Neighbouring parts. The passage describes two parts in the same sentence; the label belongs to the one in that position on the diagram, not the other.
• The material, not the part. The text says a pipe made of clay; the label needs the part (pipe), not what it is made of.
• Out of order. Numbers on the diagram do not follow the text, so students assume the first part described is label 1.
• Over the word limit. Copying a whole description, such as small clay pipe, when the limit is one or two words.

Try it: mini-example

This passage is original practice material written for Bee English.

A traditional cooling tower

In some hot, dry regions, buildings were once cooled by a tall tower that caught the wind. Air enters through an opening at the top of the tower and travels down a central shaft. At the bottom of the shaft, it passes over a shallow pool of water, which cools the air before it flows into the main room. Warm air inside the room rises and escapes through a vent in the roof.

Label the diagram. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

         (1) ________  at the top of the tower
              |    |
              |    |   <- (2) ________  (air travels down)
              |    |
   ___________|    |____________  roof with (4) ________
  |                             |
  |        main room            |
  |   (3) ________ of water at  |
  |   the base of the shaft     |
  |_____________________________|

Answers and explanations

1. opening. Air "enters through an opening at the top of the tower".
2. shaft. Air "travels down a central shaft". Central shaft is two words and breaks the limit.
3. pool. The air "passes over a shallow pool of water". Writing water is the material, not the part trap: the label already says of water.
4. vent. Warm air "escapes through a vent in the roof". Writing roof is the neighbouring parts trap: the roof is already named on the diagram, and the gap asks for the part in it.

Related guides

• IELTS Reading: complete guide
• Summary, note, table and flow-chart completion
• Listening map, plan and diagram labelling
• Writing Academic Task 1

Sources

• IELTS, Academic Reading format and question types