Introduction and Overview for an IELTS Bar Chart

An introduction and overview for an IELTS chart is given below. The introduction is the easiest paragraph to write and the overview is the most important paragraph in your report. Look at the sample paragraphs below for the IELTS chart given and fill in the gaps. This lesson will help you understand introduction and overview content as well as improve your language skills.

The chart below shows the average monthly expenditure by British households in three years.

ielts chart

Introduction and Overview for an IELTS Chart

Fill in the gaps with no more than two words in order to complete the introduction and overview for the above chart. Remember this is about paraphrasing and ensuring information is stated correctly.

Introduction

The (1) ……………………… illustrates the typical (2)  ……………………….. of money spent each month on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment (3) …………..groceries by households in Britain in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are (4) …………………. in pounds sterling.

Overview

(5) …………………., the largest expenditure was on rent,, (6)  ………………. the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. While there was a significant (7)  …………………. in spending on rent, transport and utility bills, there was little change in the amount spent on the two other items.

Answers
  1. chart / bar chart
  2. amount
  3. and
  4. measured
  5. Overall (this is the most appropriate linker to use)
  6. whereas / while
    1. it is not possible to use “in comparison to” or any similar linker due to the grammar structure of the sentence. To use “in comparison to” the sentence must read “…the largest expenditure was on rent in comparison to the least amount of money spent which was on …”
  7. increase / rise / growth

Here is an alternative introduction:

The bar chart illustrates how much money households in Britain spent in an average month on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in 1990, 2000 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Tips & Vocab
Paraphrases:

  • shows = illustrates
  • the average monthly = in a typical month
  • expenditure = amount of money spent / how much money was spent

As you can see paraphrases are minimal. Instead of lots of unnecessary paraphrases, alter the structure of the sentence to showcase your language skills. Over paraphrasing can lead to unnecessary errors which can lower your score.

Tips:

  • Either state how many categories there are or list each category in the introduction.
  • Always give dates in the introduction.
  • Give the units if necessary as a final sentence in the introduction.
  • Put key features together in the overview.
  • The overview is usually a separate paragraph which starts with the linking word “Overall”. This helps the examiner locate the overview quickly which is considered a good aspect of report writing.
  • This IELTS chart is considered a simple chart and all students aiming for band score 6 and above should be able to write this report without many errors.
  • See the recommended links below to help you further.

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Recommended Lessons

Click below to open the link:

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Comments

  1. Hols Oscar says

    Hello, thanks a lot for your work. I was wondering how you would rate my text :

    The presented bar chart describes the average monthly spending among 5 different categories including rent, transport, utility bills, entertainment and groceries by British families in 1990, 2000 and 2010. At first glance, it is apparent that households spent the most money on rent over the three years studied, while utility bills accounted for the smallest proportion of spending in 1990 and 2000. However, in 2010, entertainment was the category with the least expenditure.

    Now, getting back to the details, we can see that every category underwent a constant increase in its expenditure except entertainment, which saw a slight decrease in spending from just over 100 pounds to around 100 pounds, and utility bills that underwent a drastic climb in expenditure which jumped from just under 100 pounds to about 150 pounds from the year 2000 to 2010. In all three years, the second largest category of spending was groceries which accounted for over 300 pounds in 1990 and soared up to around 350 pounds in 2010. In addition, transport remained the third spending category throughout the decades with a progression from around 175 pounds in 1990 to about 250 pounds in 2010.

    • The overview is the most important part of your writing task 1. Always start it with “Overall” so that the examiner can locate it quickly. It will almost always be in a separate paragraph. Also, “Now getting back to the details” is informal and not considered appropriate for writing task 1 reports. Take a look at the language in my model answers and use that language: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/

  2. Hi Liz! Thank u so much!! I learnt more from ur website and from u. What do u think about this introduction?

    The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent each month on utility bills and entertainment. Average monthly groceries by households Britain in three years. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

    • There are certain issues with this introduction. Firstly, the bar chart shows more than utility bills and entertainment. It shows transport and rent as well as groceries. You can either list all categories or just state the number “money spent in five areas of monthly life”. However, if there are only five categories, then state all five.
      Don’t list two categories in one sentence and then another in a different sentence. This isn’t logical organisation of information and you are being marked on logical organisation of information.
      The second sentence doesn’t contain a verb and repeats the information about being monthly.
      Your final sentence is correct.
      So, go back to my model above and make a note of what you need to remember about writing introduction and then make a list of what to avoid doing. This way, you’ll find introductions easier to write.

  3. Chris says

    The bar chart illustrates the average monthly expenditure in 5 types (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries) from 1990 to 2010 in England. The cost symbol are using in pounds sterling.

    Overall, the amount spent on rent was consistently the highest expenditure. It was almost 450 in 1990 and rose steadily to exactly 600 in 2010. Whereas, the lowest expenditure was changed, from the utility bills about 80 in 1990 turned to the entertainment of exactly 100 in 2010.

    Furthermore, both utility bills, transport and groceries climbed gradually except the entertainment.
    The entertainment’s expenditure was both about 120 in 1990 and 2000, after which it declined to 100 in 2010 and became the lowest monthly expenditure.

  4. This bar chart illustrates the average money spent by British households in 3 years(1990, 2000 and 2010).
    Overall, the money spent on utility bills, transport, and rent has a significant increase, whereas it is volatile on entertainment and groceries. The highest money spent is on rent, the flip side to that the lowest spent on utility bills and entertainment.
    The money spent on utility bills, transport, and rent is an upward trend in all 3 decades. In 1990 utility bills, the spent is below $100 and then there is a slight increase but below $100 in 2000, finally in 2010 it reached nearly double to 1990 which is nearly $150. In transport, they spent less quarter to $200 in 1990, then above $200 in 2000 and a slight increase in 2010. In rent, they spent half near to $500 in 1990, then above $500 in 2000 and a large increase in 2010 to $600.
    In 2000, the money spent on entertainment is equal to that of in 1990 which is above $100 and then there is a slight decrease in 2010 to $100. In groceries, the money spent in all the 3 decades is above $300, there is a slight increase in 2000 when compared to 1990, and a little move in 2010 when compared with 2000.

    • aishaiq883@gmail.com says

      You have a mistake in it, you must see the minute detail. the amount is not in dollars it is in pounds.

  5. Mash R says

    The chart provides information about British families’ monthly average expenses in five different categories (rent, transport, utility bill, groceries and entertainment) in the years 1990, 2000 and 2010.

    Overall, throughout the period, most expenses were made for paying rent while the least expenses were made for utility bills. However, expenditure on grocery items remains almost unchanged.

    People from British families spent most of their money on paying rent which increased over the period by nearly 250 pounds starling, 510 pounds starling and exactly 600 pounds starling for 1990, 2000 and 2020, respectively. Then for the groceries, they spent around 310 pounds starling in 1990 and later that reached around 320 pounds sterling in the year 200 and that remains unchanged till 2010.

    In 1990 and 2000, expenses for their entertainment were just nearly 110 pounds sterling and later on 2010 amount dropped by 10 pounds sterling. Expenditures in the transport category increased over the year gradually where at the beginning they need to spent about 180 pounds starling, later on, in the year 2000 rose by approximately 35 pounds starling and at the ended with around 130 pounds sterling in the year 2010. Utility expenses increased from about 80 pounds to 150 pounds per month from 1990 to 2010 and there was a small change in 2000.

  6. Lorenzo says

    Hi Liz, than you very much for your help and your website! I tried to write the whole report, could you please let me know what do you think about it? Thanks a lot in advance!

    “The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent on five categories (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment, and groceries) by households in Britain in three specific years (1990, 2000, and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

    Overall, the largest spending was on rent whereas the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. While there was a considerable increase in the expenditure on rent, utility bills, and transport, the remaining two categories experienced little change.

    In terms of rent, the expenditure stood at around £450 in 1990 and consistently increased up to just above £500 in 2000, before peaking at £600 in 2010. Both utility bills and transport experienced similar growth. Whereas the former rose from around £80 in 1990 to just below £100 in 2000 and further climbed up to roughly £150 in 2010, the latter increased from around £180 in 1990 to just more than £200 in 2000 and to roughly £250 in 2010.

    On the other hand, spending in the remaining categories experienced little growth, if any. Groceries started at just above £300 in 1990 and sluggishly grew, increasing this figure by roughly £20 in 2000 and reaching around £350 in 2010. Entertainment was the only spending category that decreased over the considered period, with a stable amount of around £110 in both 1990 and 2000 that declined to exactly £100 in 2010.”

  7. The two pie charts provide an information about the various sources of energy namely oil, natural gas, coal, hydroelectricity and nuclear power, in percentage, for USA between 1980 and 1990.
    Overall, the highest amount of energy was produced by oil, whereas hydroelectric power was the least sources of energy in both years in the USA. Similarly, coal, natural gas produced similar proportion of energy. However, nuclear power doubled the production in 1990.
    In 1980, 42% of the sources of energy was from oil that declined to almost 10% (33%) coming to the year 1990. Similarly, 26% and 22% of natural gas and coal was another main sources respectively, of which coal showed a slight increase reaching to 27% and natural gases dropping to 25% in the year 1990. Moreover, in 1980 nuclear power was at the 5% that doubled and reached 10% the next year. However, hydroelectric power remained at the lowest at 5% in both years.

  8. FitzMaurice says

    The chart illustrates the average amount of money spent on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries, by households in Britain over three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

    Overall, household expenditure is highest in 2010, compared to 1990 and 2000. Families spent the most money on rent, while the least average expenditure was on entertainment in 2010 and utility bills in 1990, as well as 2000.

    The chart shows an increase in spending on all categories, except entertainment, with an approximately £10 decrease. This might not be unconnected with the proliferation of free content on the internet by 2010. Utility bills however, saw a quantum jump this year when compared to 2000 (approximately £50) while increase in the amount of money spent on transportation between 2010 and 2000, was not as much as that between 1990 and 2000 (about £10 and £40 respectively). These data perhaps pointing to increase the access, variety and number of home entertainment gadgets available to households.

    In terms of rent, families spent £600 on average in 2010 which is about £150 more than the average expenditure at the start of the study, on the other hand, increase in the typical amount of money spent on groceries remained remarkably consistent (about £10).

  9. Santhosh Kumar K says

    The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent each month for five different purposes (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment, and groceries) by households in Britain in 1990, 2000, and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.
    Overall, it can be clearly seen that there was an increase in the money spent for all purposes over a period, with the exception of entertainment which was decreased slightly during the last decade. In terms of individual items, while they paid the most for rent in all periods, the least for utility bills up to 2000 only. Eventually, this trend was changed and they spent the least on entertainment in 2010.
    British households spent a significantly larger amount on rent, groceries, and transport over a period. Out of all, rent was the most expensive, which consistently grew from 450 pounds in 1990 to 600 pounds in 2010. Secondly, while groceries showed a very slight rise of only around 50 pounds from 300 to 350 pounds, the expense for transport gradually increased from roughly 150 pounds to approximately 200 pounds in 2000, then climbed up to 250 pounds in 2010.
    On the other hand, they spent roughly just under 100 pounds on utility bills in 1990 and 2000, but it moderately increased to around 150 pounds in 2010. In contrast, their expenditure was remained stable with just above 100 pounds for entertainment, whereas, in 2010, it slightly declined to just under 100 pounds.

  10. Lana Faro says

    Hey Liz!
    Why there is no “a” before the word “little” in the last line of the overview “there was little change in the amount spent on the two other items”?

    • “there was a little change” = there was a small change
      “there was little change” – there was almost no change
      So, you see, the article “a” changes the meaning a lot.

  11. Chandani Thapa says

    The bar chart demonstrates the monthly expenses made by households in Britain in 1990, 2000 and 2010.

    Overall, the maximum expenditure is made on rent in all three years with dramatic growth in two decades, followed by groceries, with minimal or no expenditure growth in 2 decades. British people spent less on utility bills and entertainment.

    In 1990, the British spent almost 450 on rent, increased by 200 in 2010, which was double the money spend on groceries in 2010. Household expenses on groceries were slightly above 300 in 1990, and hiked by around 10 in 2000 but remained constant after a decade.

    Although expenses on utility bills and entertainment were the least that people spent in the UK, the utility bills hiked from below 100 in 2000 to nearly 150 in 2010. In opposite to this, expenses on entertainment were slightly above 100 in 1990 and 2000, which declined and reached 100 in 2010.

    The household expenses on transport were two-fold less than that of expenses on accommodation in 1990, around 180 which proliferated by nearly 40 after two decades.

  12. Gina says

    The bar chart illustrates the amount of money an average family in the UK spent on five different sectors in 1990, 2000 and 2010.
    Overall, the amount of money paid out on rent was the highest among all categories in all three years. There was a considerable rise in utility bills, transportation and rent, while the change in other sectors was minimal. Entertainment was the only sector that displayed a downward trend.
    Rent cost the families approximately $450 in 1990, and this number increased steadily by roughly $75 per decade to exactly $600 by 2010. Likewise, the amount spent on utility bills and transportation grew substantially, from around $90 and $180 to about $150 and $250 respectively.
    On the other hand, the spending on groceries rose slightly by about $10 to $330 in 2000, and then remained relatively unchanged in the next decade. In contrast, the figure of entertainment remained comparably stable from 1990 to 2000 at around $110 before a dip to exactly $100 in 2010.

  13. Hi Liz! thanks so much for your help. What do you think about this introduction?

    “The bar chart illustrates the average money spent by British people on different households’ necessities at the beginning of three different decades; 1990, 2000 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.”

    • Liz says

      You have the right approach, but be very careful presenting false information. This does not show the “beginning” of the decades. The beginning of a decade means the first couple of years. This chart show the whole decade, not just the beginning. Use your language carefully. Be precise. Otherwise, all good.

  14. tunguyen says

    Hi Liz, I try to write the whole report for the chart, can you give me some comments about my writing? thank you

    The chart illustrates the typical amount of money that British families spent every month in five categories in 1990, 200 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.
    Overall, except for entertainment, the expenditure on all other categories increased over the period in which the largest spending was on house rental while the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment.
    Regarding the renting budget, the figure was just around 450 pounds in 1990 then increased significantly to exact 600 pounds in 2010. This trend can also be seen in the expenditure on utility bills and transport where there was a significant increase of nearly 70 pounds after the period of 20 years from about 80 pounds to nearly 150 pounds and from approximately 180 pounds to around 250 pounds respectively.
    on the other hand, although the second major spending of UK’s families was on groceries, the change on the number was minor which was from about 310 pounds to 320 pounds by the end of the period. In terms of leisure activities, the figure was unchanged at around 110 pounds for the first decade then decreased slightly to shart 100 pounds in the final year.

  15. Htin Kyaw Hloon says

    Dear Liz,
    First, I’d like to thank you for your useful informations and great idea for people preparing for IS exam and I have a little unclear cases. This is about the IELTS examination past paper books ,which are published by Cambridge, with numbers, such as,1,2,3 etc. These numbers demonstrate difficulty when incerase or just show order. When I practice with others IS practice tests books which issued by other organizations , some questions types from those books are considerable different from Cambridge test books.

    • They are the order the books were published. Book 1 was published years ago, book 14 will be published next month.

  16. Madeeha Khan says

    The bar chart illustrates how much the money British families spent monthly on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in 1990, 2000 and 2010. The amount spent is measured in pounds sterling.
    Overall, it is observed that the British household spent the maximum amount on rent each month during these three years. In contrast, they spent relatively less on utility bills and entertainment.
    The biggest monthly expenditure of British family was to pay rent, which increased from 450 pounds in 1990 to 600 pounds in 2010. The next big spending was on groceries that remain almost constant at 310 pounds in this period. Furthermore, they also spent high amounts on transport which increased from 280 pounds to 350 pounds in these 20 years.
    However, the monthly expenditure of British people on utility bills was lowest at 80 pounds in 1990, increased a little to 150 pounds in 2010. Similarly, they spent the smallest on entertainment as they spent 110 pounds on entertainment in 1990 and 2000, which slightly decreased to 100 pounds in 2010.
    Please check my answer

    • Aygun says

      As I remember that she’s already mentioned on her video you shouldn’t indicate the accurate data such as 150 or 280 pounds this means your band score will be affected badly.

      • You should give accurate precise data if it is possible to see that figure on the graph. If the precise figure can’t be given, you use “about” or “around” or “just under” etc.

  17. riachristina says

    Hello Liz,

    Can you please check my Introduction and Overview.

    Thank you.

    The bar chart illustrates the average amount of money spent by British households on a monthly basis in utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

    Overall, the highest amount of money was spent on rent in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010) while the lowest expenditure was shown in utility bills in the year 1990 and 2000. On the other hand, British households spent the least amount of money on entertainment in 2010. The chart also shows that there was a steady increased in the monthly expenditure of British households on utility bills, rent and groceries for the given period while amount of money spent on entertainment remained unchanged in 1990 and 2000 then slightly dropped in 2010.

  18. The amazing Liz, this website was established in 2014, but I could not find a better one especially for academic writing !! Hurray

  19. I am very happy because of this website.I have been searching that kind of website for a long time.Thanks a lot

  20. Mudassar Hussain says

    It is one of the most useful website for ielts student thank you so much Liz. It is extremely incredible for any ielts student.

  21. Hello Liz,

    I noticed one more key feature that should be in the overview: more money was totally spent in 2010 compared to the other two years. Is that correct?

  22. Bhavika says

    The bar chart illustrates the amount of money spent by British household on expenses like utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries per month for 3 years. Units are measured in pounds sterling.
    Overall, the cost of living expense is seeing an increasing trend in totality except for entertainment expense. Rent and grocery are the major two expenditure of a British household in comparison to other expenses.
    In a span of 30 years significant increase in expenses like rent , utility bill and transport is seen. Rent saw consistent rising trend about L450 in 1990 to above L500 in 2000 and finally reached L600 in 2010. Furthermore, the utility bill expense in first two years were more or less the same(little below L100) but shot more than L150 in a span of 10 years. The transport expense in year 1990 was little over L150 then it flung to slightly below 250 and then the increase was gradual (approx. 250 in 2010)
    The expenses like entertainment and groceries were more or less the same over the years. As seen entertainment ranged from approx. L120 to L100 a downward trend as compared to groceries ranging from little above L300 to L340 showing an upward trend over the years.

    PLEASE CHECK MY ANSWER TO THE BAR CHART USED FOR INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW.

    • simran singh says

      you are using present sentence form (is, are) in the second body paragraph, which is wrong i guess, it should be written in past because survey was already conducted.

  23. Shradha says

    Thank you so much Liz for your useful information

  24. You writing task 1&2 practices and lessons are very helpful!

  25. Bharat Chhabra says

    Hi liz,

    I just went through your different links of writing task 1.
    In every writing task that you have written, conclusion comes just after the introduction,but the ielts book which is authenticated by the cambridge and the ielts have the conclusion part at the end of the every task.I’m just concerned about this,why so?

    Regards Bharat

  26. nixon dominic says

    Can we write all listening answers in capital letter

  27. Is that enough for writing task 1? I mean we have to write at least 150 words for task 1 but there are around 100 words.

    • This lesson shows the introduction and overview. It doesn’t not give body paragraphs. See my model answers for full writing task 1 reports.
      Liz

  28. why groceries not included to overview?

  29. Hi dear liz
    Can I write (the chart illustrate the medium monthly disbursement. …etc)

  30. Hi,
    Thanks for your valuable informations.
    Here I would like to ask you about the last sentences is correct or not, because on your explanation states that “little changes in the amount spend on the other two items”. But there are other three items (transport, entertainment and groceries).
    Am I right or not?
    Thanks
    Josna

    • The other two refers to those which are not stated. Read the sentence more carefully.
      Liz

  31. can we write atypical British family instead of household

  32. Hello dear Liz,
    Can you show us how to discraib 2 charts or 2 lines, because I have seen them many times.

    Thank you,
    Ziyo

  33. thank liz . I just want to know how to make sure that my grammar are correct .

    • I can only suggest that you find an English teacher to correct your writing. Unfortunately, I don’t offer that service.
      Liz

  34. Debbie says

    I wanted to ask if it is right to use “while” in number 6. Thanks

  35. Iroda says

    Hi dear Liz! Thank you for useful source of information! I have a question. What will happen if I do not write overview for task 1? Instead can I just give general information after introduction and continue to write bodies?

  36. abhishek says

    mam some suggest to write conclusion for task 1.is it necessary?
    what conclusion should contain?

  37. abhishek says

    hello mam ,
    thank you so much for your guidance.
    can we write the approx value in brackets like for example(around $10)

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