# IELTS Diagram Label Completion: putting a description onto a picture

Diagram label completion asks you to label a diagram with words from a description in the text. How it is marked, three worked items with a diagram, and why the answers jump around.

## Exercises

Exercises marked (free) are open to everyone; a free account opens the rest.

- [Roman tunnels, questions 1-6](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/roman-tunnels) (free)
- [Building a Simple Water Clock, questions 28-30](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/building-a-simple-water-clock) (free)
- [THE FALKIRK WHEEL, questions 20-26](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-falkirk-wheel)
- [Raising the Mary Rose, questions 9-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/raising-the-mary-rose)
- [Tidal Power, questions 23-26](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/tidal-power)
- [A Chronicle of Timekeeping, questions 9-13](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/a-chronicle-of-timekeeping)
- [Collecting Ant Specimens, questions 37-40](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/collecting-ant-specimens)
- [Population movements and genetics, questions 20-21](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/population-movements-and-genetics)
- [What's so funny?, questions 21-23](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/whats-so-funny)
- [Visual Symbols and the Blind, questions 30-32](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/visual-symbols-and-the-blind)
- [Alternative Medicine in Australia, questions 24-26](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/alternative-medicine-in-australia)
- [THE ROCKET - FROM EAST TO WEST, questions 11-14](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/the-rocket-from-east-to-west)
- [A Remarkable Beetle, questions 6-8](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/a-remarkable-beetle)
- [AIRPORTS ON WATER, questions 6-9](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/airports-on-water)
- [Migratory Beekeeping, questions 20-23](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/migratory-beekeeping)
- [SPOKEN CORPUS COMES TO LIFE, questions 7-11](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/spoken-corpus-comes-to-life)
- [GLASS, questions 6-8](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/glass)
- [High Speed, High Rise, questions 19-22](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/high-speed-high-rise)
- [Whale Strandings, questions 18-21](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/whale-strandings)

## The short answer

Diagram label completion gives you a diagram based on a description in the text, such as a machine or part of a building, with some labels missing. You complete each label with words from the text, inside a printed word limit. The answers may not come in the order of the text, but they usually come from one part of it. Each label is one mark out of 40, in both Academic and General Training.

## Key facts

- **Paper:** Reading
- **Module:** Academic and General Training
- **Marks:** 1 per label, out of 40
- **Diagram:** A machine, part of a building, or other things shown in pictures
- **Word limit:** Printed; going over it loses the mark
- **Order:** Not always the text's order; usually one part of it

Formats, timings and marking come from IELTS's own test-format pages, checked 27 September 2026.

## How it's scored

IELTS says this type tests whether you can understand a detailed description in the text and relate it to the diagram. The skill is translation: the text describes in sentences, and the diagram shows in positions and arrows.

The answers may not follow the order of the text, so do not expect label 1 to be the first thing described. They usually come from one part of the text, so find that part and stay in it.

> Start with the labels already printed. Each one is a word you can find in the text, and the gaps sit next to those words.

## Diagram label completion examples

Worked examples written for this page. Answer each one before you open the model response: memorizing a response is scored as an irrelevant answer in the real test.

**Example 1 -- a process**

*Five-stage diagram of a water filter: water in at the top, gravel removes grit, sand traps gap 1, gap 2 removes chemicals, tank drained by gap 3.*

| Stage |  |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Water in at the top |
| 2 | Gravel removes grit |
| 3 | Sand traps (1) |
| 4 | (2) removes chemicals |
| 5 | Tank, drained by a (3) |

*A household water filter, top to bottom.*

> A simple household water filter works in three layers. Water poured in at the top first passes through gravel, which removes leaves and grit. It then moves through sand, which traps finer particles. The last layer is charcoal, which removes many chemicals and improves the taste. Clean water collects in a tank at the bottom and is drawn off through a tap.
> 
> (1) {1}
> (2) {2}
> (3) {3}

Prompt: Label the diagram. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

- Blank 1: finer particles
- Blank 2: charcoal
- Blank 3: tap

Model response: finer particles; charcoal; tap.

Why it scores: The printed labels, gravel and sand, anchor you in the text. Each gap is the next thing the text says about the stage next to it.

**Example 2 -- layers, described bottom first**

*Cross-section of a green roof in six layers, from top: plants, A, B, drainage layer, C, roof deck.*

| Column 1 |
| --- |
| Plants |
| A |
| B |
| Drainage layer |
| C |
| Roof deck |

*A green roof, top layer first.*

> A green roof is built up in layers. The roof deck at the bottom is covered first with a waterproof membrane, which keeps water out of the building. On top of that sits a drainage layer, which carries extra rain to the gutters. Above the drainage layer is a thin filter fabric that stops soil washing down. Then comes the growing medium, a light soil mix in which the plants root.
> 
> A: {1}
> B: {2}
> C: {3}

Prompt: Label the diagram. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

- Blank 1: growing medium
- Blank 2: filter fabric
- Blank 3: waterproof membrane

Model response: A, growing medium; B, filter fabric; C, waterproof membrane.

Why it scores: The text builds the roof from the bottom up, and the diagram lists it from the top down. The answers come in reverse order, which IELTS warns can happen.

**Example 3 -- a name, not a job**

*Five-stage diagram of a canal lock: boat enters through gap 1, gates closed behind it, gap 2 opened in the top gates, chamber fills, top gates opened.*

| Stage |  |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Boat enters through the (1) |
| 2 | Gates closed behind it |
| 3 | (2) opened in the top gates |
| 4 | Chamber fills to the upper level |
| 5 | Top gates opened |

*How a lock lifts a boat.*

> A canal lock lifts a boat from a lower stretch of water to a higher one. The boat enters the chamber through the bottom gates, which are then closed behind it. Next, small openings called paddles are opened in the top gates, and water flows in from the upper canal. When the water in the chamber reaches the upper level, the top gates can be opened and the boat moves on.
> 
> (1) {1}
> (2) {2}

Prompt: Label the diagram. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

- Blank 1: bottom gates
- Blank 2: paddles

Model response: bottom gates; paddles.

Why it scores: The second label wants the name the text gives, paddles, not a description such as small openings. "Called" is the word that tells you a name follows.

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## Common mistakes

| What costs marks | Do this instead |
| --- | --- |
| Expecting the labels in the text's order. | Find the part of the text the diagram covers, then match each label by position, not by sequence. |
| Describing the part instead of naming it. | The label is a name from the text, such as filter fabric, not what the part does. |
| Going over the word limit. | Read the limit above the questions. Two correct words plus an extra one loses the mark. |
| Ignoring the labels already printed. | Use them as anchors. Each gap sits next to a named part you can find in the text. |

**Know what the marks are worth** Reading and Listening are 40 marks each. The band calculator turns a mark out of 40 into a band, and four skill bands into your overall. [Open the IELTS band calculator](/ielts/band-score-calculator)

## How to practice

1. Take a short description of how something works and draw it yourself. Then compare your drawing with the text, part by part.
2. Before answering, find every printed label in the text and underline it. The answers are usually within a line or two of those words.
3. Note the direction words in each description: above, below, next, then, behind. They tell you where on the diagram each part goes.

## Common questions

### Do diagram label answers come in order?

Not always. IELTS says the answers may not come in the same order as the text, but they usually come from one part of it rather than the whole text.

### What kind of diagram is used?

IELTS says it may be a type of machine, part of a building, or other information in the text that can be shown in pictures.

### Do I have to use words from the text?

Yes. You type words from the text into the gaps, inside the word limit printed with the questions.

**Sources**
- [IELTS: Academic Reading test format (checked 27 September 2026)](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-academic-test/ielts-academic-format-reading)
- [IELTS: General Training Reading test format (checked 27 September 2026)](https://ielts.org/take-a-test/test-types/ielts-general-training-test/ielts-general-training-format-reading)

[Practice Diagram label completion free](https://testmigo.com/ielts)