Below is a band score 9 sample answer for an IELTS bar chart in writing task 1. Below the model is a link to a video lesson about how to describe an IELTS bar chart. Watch the video to learn essential tips for each paragraph for a high score bar chart.
The bar chart illustrates how many children, divided by gender, played six kinds of sports (tennis, badminton, cycling, swimming, football and hockey) in a town in England in 2012.
Overall, the number of boys playing sport exceeded that of girls in the given period and the sport with the most significant difference between the genders was football. Football was also the most popular sport for boys, while the majority of girls preferred swimming. Furthermore, both males and females least preferred playing hockey.
There were four sports in which boys participated more than girls. While 60 boys played football, the number of girls playing that sport was considerably lower (around 20). With regards to tennis, the figure for boys who played that sport was 50 as opposed to just under 40 for girls. Similarly, more boys cycled than girls (approximately 35and 20 respectively). The difference in hockey was minimal with only about 5 more boys playing that sport than girls.
On the other hand, more girls took part in the two remaining sports which both showed a difference of about 10 between the genders. As many as 50 girls took part in swimming in comparison to 40 girls for badminton.
All my model answers are designed to teach you all about language, structure, paragraphing, organisation and fulfilling the task. The way the answer is structured and written is the same for people aiming for band 7 or band 9. Also note the length – longer is not better.
Recommended Lessons
- IELTS Bar Chart Essential Tips: Free Video Tutorial
- Pie Chart Model Band Score 9
- Line Graph Model Answer
- ALL MODEL ANSWERS & TIPS FOR WRITING TASK 1
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Hi Liz,
I notice that you use () in the writing. Is it OK for us to do so in formal IELTS tests?
It is normal to use brackets for presenting data in formal report writing. However, don’t overuse them. The aim is to show a range of sentence structures.
Thank you so much!
The bar graph illustrate the sports both boys and girls like playing in an English town in the year 2012.
Overall, majority of boys like to play football whereas majority of girls in the English town like to swimming. Also, Hockey was the sports that both boys and girls least prefer playing based on the bar graph given.
Firstly, the graph illustrate Boys prefer playing this four sports than girls football, Tennis, Cycling and Hockey whiles the graph showed girls prefer to play Badminton and swimming respectively.
The highest sports for boys which was football had 60, followed by tennis which was 50, then cycling 35 and Hockey 15 respectively. The highest sports girls was swimming which was 50, followed by badminton 40, then tennis 35 and cycling 20. The lowest number for both boys and girls was Hockey which was 10 and 15 respectively.
In conclusion, the highest for boys was football and for girls was Swimming. The lowest for both girls and boys was hockey.
Although I don’t offer feedback on my website, I do have time for a quick comment. See this page about paragraphing: https://ieltsliz.com/writing-task-1-paragraphs/. You should never have both an overview and a conclusion in a writing task 1 report. Then review all tips and model answers on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
Hello, Tr. Lizz
May I know how to purchase the advanced lessons? I am having trouble in Credit card as there is no option for my country, Burma ( Myanmar) and how can I buy the lessons though?
This is really tricky because I think Burma has blocked paypal and card payments are almost impossible. My only advice is to find someone who can help you with the payment. If you can’t find someone, email me on store@ieltsliz.com
Hello Liz,
Thank you so much for all the valuable content you post. It’s truly appreciated. I have a couple of questions:
1- For this type of chart, is it acceptable to have a body paragraph for each category? Or will that lower the band score? In other words, is the primary goal to report the information or to compare each aspect? (I’ll add my response to the task to illustrate what I mean.)
2- In my introduction, I wrote, “in a town in England in 2012,” but it felt awkward with three consecutive “in”s. So, I added a comma: “in a town in England, in 2012.” Is this correct in terms of punctuation?
Thank you!
The bar chart illustrates the amount of boys and girls engaging in six sports (tennis, badminton, cycling, swimming, football, and hockey) in a town in England, in 2012.
Overall, hockey was the least popular sport for both genders, whereas football was the most popular for boys, as opposed to swimming for girls. Additionally, the number of girls participating in badminton and swimming outweighs that of the boys, while boys were the majority in the four remaining sports.
The most popular sports for boys were football, tennis, and swimming with 60, 50, and 40 players respectively. Followed by around 35 interested in cycling and 30 playing badminton. Hockey was the least chosen sport with about 15 players during that year.
Regarding sports played by girls, swimming scored the highest participation count with 50 girls, followed by badminton and tennis with 40 and around 35 players respectively. Football and cycling had less players with around 20 each. Hockey, however, was also the least popular choice for girls with just under 10 players.
1) I see what you mean about the organisation of your body paragraphs. Certainly, your organisation is logical and that is a key part of marking for Coherence and Cohesion, which counts for 25% of your marks and relates, in part, to paragraphing. However, you do need to take into consideration what the chart is showing. A bar chart shows one category with two columns next to each other, one for boys and one for girls. It is presented like that because the aim of the bar chart is to compare boys and girls. The way you have organised boys into one body paragraph and girls into another means you aren’t comparing boys and girls within each sport, which is the aim of the chart. So, therefore, you would be marked down for having your paragraphs separate boys and girls in that way. In writing task 1, paragraphing should help with highlighting key features.
2) it’s fine to remove all the commas for “, in a town in the UK, ” in such a short introduction. In English, the use of commas is not always black and white, meaning there is some degree of flexibility when using them. However, we do use a comma before the word “, while” when using this linking word to compare two things, such as boys and girls in this chart.
By the way, well done on your overview. Well written and key features well highlighted. It’s such an important paragraph to get right. And you’ve done a get job with language as well. I have high hopes for your results as long as you can keep nailing the overviews and choose strong paragraph organisation.
Hi Liz,
Is a conclusion necessary in Task 1?
Task 1 has an overview, not a conclusion. I created a video lesson about that which you can find linked on the main writing task 1 section of this website: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
Hi Liz
Could you please give me your feedback on my overview.
Overall, the number of boys participants surpass the number of girls who played sports in 2012. Football and tennis were a favorable sports played by the boys while the girls showed more interest in swimming and badminton. Furthermore, both genders showed the least amount of interest in hockey and cycling.
The aim of my website is to provide model answers, lessons and tips etc, but not to provide a feedback service. However, I do have time for a quick comment.
1) You’ve got the right techniques, but just a few issues with language.
2) you can write “the number of boys” or “the number of male participants”. You cannot write “boy participants”.
3) be careful writing about favourable sports, because this shows the time they spent, not how they felt about it.
4) don’t forget the comma before the word “while” when used before the start of the second clause of a sentence.
Luckily, these errors will be quick to fix and by fixing them, you’ll improve your score.
The bar graph illustrates the portion of boys and girls in six different outdoor game activities in an English town in 2012.
Overall, Boys are in the highest number in four out of six games than girls, with football and swimming being the top preferences for boys and girls respectively, Whereas hockey is the least chosen activity by both.
Boys are nearly three times more into football than girls, with figures 60 and 20 accordingly. Swimming and Badminton are popular among girls, with 40 and 50 in number, beating the boys in these two sports.
There’s almost a gap of 15 people in Tennis and cycling between the males and females participation, 50 and 35, and 35 and 20 respectively. Hockey is the least anticipated activity among both, with figures less than 20 in count.
I don’t normally give feedback but I will make two points. 1) This is too short. While there is no longer an automatic penalty for being under words, you will struggle to get a high score with such a short report. Your aim will always be to write over 150 words, with between 170 and 190 words being the most suitable. 2) Pay attention to your language, for example “boys are in the highest number”. This language isn’t accurate or suitable for a report. Go back through my model, sentence by sentence, to review language and grammar.
The graph illustrates the amount of boys and girls that played 6 sports (tennis, badminton , cycling, swimming, football and hockey ) in an English town in 2012.
Overall, we can see in the graph that boys participated the most in all sports compared to girls,nevertheless girls had an active participation.
We can see a considerable peak of participation of boys in football with 60, while the girls had over 20 players. On the other hand the sport that was less choosen it is hockey were boys and girls participated ( around 15 and 9 respectively).
Swimming it is the sport that girls played the most with 50 players whereas the boys had just over 40. Another sport that has a femenine participation was Badminton with 40 participants.However tennis, cycling, hockey and tennis are the sports where boys participated the most (50, around 38, about 12 respectively)
Don’t forget that the most important paragraph is the overview. Make sure to put all key features in. This overview isn’t sufficient for a high score.
The bar graph elucidates the proportion of boys and girl’s players among the vivid sports namely, Tennis, Badminton, Cycling, Swimming, Football and Hockey in town of England in year 2012.
Overall, the young boys can be seen adequately playing all sports than girls, whereas girls were excessively high as compared to the opponent in badminton and swimming. Although the highest difference is in football where the 60 boys played, it is also the highest number among other sports.
Hockey is the least playing game among all the players, considerably 15 for boys and 8 for girls. It is the one of the sports with less player from both groups. Football played among 60 boys as compared to 20 girls, this is the one athlete game with a difference of 40.
The two sports where the numbers of girls players were exceeding was badminton and swimming with 40 and 50 respectively. Among all sports girls high attended swimming with a total of 50 players. The average of 12 players differences between tennis and cycling where boys lead by 50 and considerably 35 respectively.
The given bar graph illustrates that a collective amount of boys and girls playing different kinds of games (Tennis, Badminton, Cycling, Swimming, Football, and Hockey) in the English belonging area in 2012.
Overall, the strength of boys are pretty enough compares to girls in the sports. It seems Football and Tennis are very much popular among the boys in against to girls. While huge number of girls love to play Badminton and doing Swimming than boys.
In Tennis exactly 50 boys love to play tennis while ratio of girls is below 40. In Football ratio of boys is higher than girls (60 and slightly above 20 respectively). Hockey is also popular in boys where there are around 15 boys playing compared to girls where there are below 10 girls are playing. We cannot forget the Cycling sport where the strength of boys are considerably higher than girls (35 and 20 respectively).
Badminton and Swimming are the two sport where girls are in lead compares to boys. In Badminton sport is played by girls are exactly 40 than 30 boys. On the other hand, in swimming the amount of girls are 50 compare to boys which is slightly above than 40.
The bar graph illustrates the number of children from both gender who played the six kinds of sports in an English town in 2012.
Overall, majority of boys played tennis, cycling, football and hockey. Whereas, badminton and swimming were the sports English girls took part the most.
Generally, footwall was the favorite sport among boys with 60 players as compared to girls which was overwhelmingly low at around 20. Other sports as tennis, cycling and hockey were also dominated by males. In detail, there were 50 boys in tennis, while only more than a quarter in girls. Moreover, there were roughly about 38 and 15 boys played cycling and hockey respectively.
Conversely, girls on the other hand, engaged most in swimming with 50 participants which was over 5% than boys. Whereas, 40 preferred badminton that made it as the second most played sport among this group.
The bar chart illustrates the number of children, divided by gender played six different sports games (tennis, badminton, cycling, swimming football and hockey) in the town of English in 2012.
Overall, the participation of male students in sports seems higher than girls, especially in tennis, cycling and football. While girls show enthusiasm for badminton and swimming. Further, both were less active in hockey with the least participation.
Football was the most popular sport for boys, as 60 boys participate as opposed to around 20 girls. With regards to tennis, less than 40 girls played as compared to boys (50). Similarly, more boys cycled than girls (approximately 35 and 20 respectively). Both were less active in hockey and there is a minor difference between around 15 and 20 (boys and girls respectively).
On the other hand, considerably more girls took part in Badminton and Swimming than boys, which both showed a difference of about 10. As 50 girls preferred swimming, whereas 40 girls for badminton.
The bar chart given displays the statistics of male and female practicing six different types of sports (tennis, badminton, cycling, swimming, football and hockey) in a random English city in 2012.
Overall, the number of boys playing sports has outnumbered the quota of girls in multiple disciplines and shows a significant exceed in football. On the other hand, the majority of girls were interested in swimming, while Hockey had the least percentage of participants from both genders.
Football has the highest number of players with 60 participants for boys compared to around 20 for girls, followed by tennis where boys accounted for 50 and girls for approximately 38 players. Swimming and badminton were the only two types of sport where girls took over the count against boys with a total of 50 and 41 swimmers respectively. Moreover, badminton players amounted to 40 for girls and 30 for boys.
In Cycling activity, the proportion of boy candidates has almost doubled those of girls with 38 players in opposition to 20, while hockey recorded the least figure of players for both boys and girls at 24 participants collectively.
Hello Liz, I would like to ask you a question, hope it’s not silly. Can we skip some information on task 1? For example, what if we never talk we never talk about badminton?
Thank you.
You can’t skip information. But you can group categories together based on similarities or differences.
hlo mm, can we use moreover and furthermore in academic task 1??
Yes, sure. They are completely normal linking words to use.
This report will sum up the chart which shows the number of boys and girls playing sport un an English town in 2012. It is readily apparent from the data provided, overall, boys played far more sport than girls, with the exception two sports, namely: badminton and swimming.
Looking at the information in greater detail, it can be seen that the highest number of boys, or rather, 60, plays football, and hockey was by far the fewest. If we also consider tennis, the figures show that 50 males decided to play this sport, and 20 fewer played badminton.
As far as girls are concerned, we can observe that the most, that is to say, 50, chose to swim, whereas the lowest number of female children played hockey. 40 girls played badminton, which is twice as many numbers as cycling, and more or less 20 played football. Turning finally to tennis, about 38 chose to play this type of sport.
Why 1st letters of nouns tennis badminton cycling swimming and hockey are not upper case??
Because this follows English grammar rules. Names of sports do not require capital letters. Headings for charts use capital letters, but you must ensure that you use them in a grammatically correct way in your writing.
Thank you soo much liz.. I really wish to meet you in person and say thank you.. I’m soley studying your materials and i think it’s more than enough to get the band I’m aiming for.. Thank you once again.. Love from 🇮🇳India
Good luck! However, please make sure you also complete real IELTS tests at home. You can find a free test on the IELTS BC website and paid tests in the IELTS Cambridge test books. Do some for practice and others under exam conditions at home.
Hi Liz, I’ve a query about number of words used.. in this we have 200, isn’t that a big number…170-190 is fine, right?
The advice is always not to go over 190 words. This is because most candidates are not band 9 English speakers and some struggle with Task Achievement. TA is also about not going into too much detail. Most Writing Task 1 are suitable for keeping words under 200. However, if you hit 200 or just above, you won’t be penalised. But your writing may contain more mistakes which will lower your score.
Ok Liz, thanks for the answer and for the amazing tutorials too!!
very informative.
Thank you Liz for your help and informative lessons which make our learning process easier.
thanks for the tips! Godbless
Hi liz. First of all I would like to thank you for all your tips, I fell I am improving a lot with your help. I have a question, in writing task 1 can I divide paragraphs by using linkers such as firstly, secondly, thirdly or is it better to avoid this vocabulary since it is not an essay?
Linking words are a must. It is part of the marking criteria that you show the use of linking words. However, using “first, secondly, thirdly” in that way is mechanical – “like a machine” and this will limit your score. Be natural and flexible with your use of linking words. Not all paragraphs need to start with one. Review my model answers and note all linking words: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
in this you did not even mention about badminton..lol
Badminton was given in the second body paragraph:
On the other hand, more girls took part in the two remaining sports which both showed a difference of about 10 between the genders. As many as 50 girls preferred swimming in comparison to 40 girls for badminton.
You are a true daughter of God. Your ❤ is so big (generous) enough for others to see and experience AGAPE, the love of Jesus Christ through you. May God bless you abundantly my dear sister in Jesus Christ. God bless …
Hi liz.
I would like to have an independent conversation with you….
Sorry, I do not offer that.
Hi Liz,
First of all I would like to thank you for your great lessons. I wish all the best for you. I also have a question. If in a task 1 writing topic we have “per month” like in the following sentence. The chart shows the amount of time teenagers watch television per week or in week. Can I paraphrase it with montly? I am not sure if monthly is formal enough to be used here?
Yes, definitely.
Per month = monthly = each month
Hi Liz, Your lessons are clear and concise.You are amazing !
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your help so far ,your teachings has been of tremendously assisted. Please,does task one has conclusion?
See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
hi liz
i have a querry related this graph’s introduction
in the question it is not described that the boys and girls are children,adults or teens then how can we say them children ?
and thanxx a lot for all your very beneficial lessons
The word “boy” means a male who is a child. The word “man” means a male who is an adult. Please review your basic English vocabulary.
Hi Liz, can we use word leapfrog for comparison or is it informal?
If you are asking me, it is because you have a doubt. If you have a doubt, don’t use it.
Hi liz.. how r u ?
Some authortities claim that the phrase ” on the other hand”is informal. Glad to see you using this phrase. Kindly clarify afformentioned misconception. Thanks in anticipation.
It is 100% fine to use. It is not informal at all.
hi Liz I’m so happy cuz I’ve found the right person for my Ielts preparation…though this is the first time just about a week that I m taking classes..but following u is just great..
now I have improved many more seeing your ielts related post…
thanks once again..😃😃😃😃
I’m glad my lessons are helping you 🙂
Thank you so much. You are doing a splendid job. I have been searched for many good videos regarding IELTS, than i came to know about your’s, it will help me to get a good band score for sure.
Hello Liz, thanks a lot for your effort with us and I hope u recover from your health problems and get well soon, if u please can I organize my body paragraphs for this topic as one for girls and another for boys after stating the comparisons in the overview of that will be lacking enough comparisons for my task achievement.
Bar charts are used in order to show comparisons – that is the purpose of a bar chart.
Hi, Liz,
in a “road to ielts” they say that the “overall” part of an essay should be put in the end of an essay. you always put it in a second paragraph. Is there a right way to do it?
The examiner will looking for a logical order of paragraphing. The overview contains the key features which are more important than the smaller detail and for this reason it is recommended to put the overview before the body paragraphs. However, it is still possible to put it at the end. Always remember that it is the most important part of your writing task 1.
Hi Liz,
I want to thank you for your absolutely great help, I have used your website specially for some help with the writing section and I have earned 7.5 for writing in my IELTS just a couple of weeks ago thanks to you!
many greetings from Palestine!
Gabi
Well done, Gabi 🙂 I’m really pleased for you 🙂
Hi Liz could you let me know with the percentages( should I use singular verb or Plural verb).For example, 60% percentage of expenditure (it should followed by singular or plural verb).
Why are you repeating the symbol and the word? If you use the symbol, don’t use the word.
in the overview , can I take some words from the phrase provided and use it ? like in this case boys and girls
You don’t need to paraphrase all words. Just paraphrase some and change the order of the words as well.
Dear Liz
Your amazing in lots of way, thanks for couching.
one of the scholars (he got band score 8.5) in Cambodia suggested your website, and I’ve been browsing through and find it very helpful. Thank you Liz.
This post is very helpful, many of my friends score low in writing as opposed to other skills. I also find writing hard for me.
You’ll find information, tips and practice lessons on this site to help you. Also follow my facebook page.
Hi Liz,
How to tackle if we are given two line charts for Task 1? For example, one chart shows the comparison of tuition fee for different fields of study in three different countries and second chart gives information on hostel charges in these countries. Should the overview be based on the combined theme or separate?
Thanks
The introduction and overview are for both. Then give the details of each in separate body paragraphs. See this model: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-line-graph-and-bar-chart-model-answer-band-9/
I got it
Thanks alot teacher ^_^
https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/
Thanks for your tips, I got an Ielts exam next month. Hope it goes well.