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1 Bar Charts

The document provides guidance on how to write a high-scoring summary for an IELTS bar chart question in 3 steps: introduction, general overview, and specific details. The introduction should paraphrase the chart's content and timeframe. The general overview briefly describes 2-4 key trends. Specific details are then given in separate paragraphs about each element, providing exact numbers and yearly changes. Practicing this structure helps learners understand how to concisely yet thoroughly summarize bar chart data for the IELTS exam.

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324 views10 pages

1 Bar Charts

The document provides guidance on how to write a high-scoring summary for an IELTS bar chart question in 3 steps: introduction, general overview, and specific details. The introduction should paraphrase the chart's content and timeframe. The general overview briefly describes 2-4 key trends. Specific details are then given in separate paragraphs about each element, providing exact numbers and yearly changes. Practicing this structure helps learners understand how to concisely yet thoroughly summarize bar chart data for the IELTS exam.

Uploaded by

navigator290679
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IELTS Writing

Task 1
How to describe a bar chart?
In this lesson you will:
• See an example of a bar chart question
• Learn a band 9 structure
• Write model answer step by step together
• Learn some useful vocabulary
IELTS bar chart question

The bar chart shows the


divorce rates in two European
countries from 2011 to 2015. 

Summarize the information by


selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
IELTS Band 9 Answer Structure
IELTS bar chart answering strategy:

1. Introduction

• The first paragraph you write is an introduction. The introduction is 1 or 2 sentences, where


you introduce your chart. In the introduction you have to paraphrase the information from your
question and mention 2 important things:
• what your graph shows
• for what period of time
In our example, the introduction can look like this:
The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in Finland and Sweden
between 2011 and 2015.
• See how I used synonyms to paraphrase the question:
• shows → provides information about
divorce rates → percentages of divorces
two European countries → Finland and Sweden (it’s good to be more specific)
from 2011 to 2015 → between 2011 and 2015.
2. General Overview
• The second paragraph of your
answer is a general overview,
where you briefly describe
major trends on your graph.
Ideally, you should describe 2-4
key features.
• To make major trends easier to
notice, you can outline Sweden’s
bars and Finland’s bars like this:
Now it’s obvious that:
• Sweden experienced a downward trend
• Finland experienced an upward trend
• both countries showed fluctuations
• Initially Finland had a lower rate, but in 2015
Finland outraced Sweden
Use word overall to start your general overview.
In our case, the overview may look as follows:
Overall, Sweden experienced a downward
trend, while Finland showed an upward trend
throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce
rates had some fluctuations. Although Finland
initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at
the end of the period.
• Now include the information you've gathered from the chart into your
overview. Always start your general overview with the word overall:

Overall, at the beginning of the period construction contributed the


least to the economy of Turkey and agriculture was the most
significant economic sector. In comparison, at the end of the period
healthcare and education became the largest economic segment and
the lowest contribution was made by financial, business and other
services.
3. Specific details
After we’ve written the introduction and general overview, it’s time to
give the specific details. You should describe the specific features in 2 or 3
(sometimes more) paragraphs.
You can group data in such way:
• Details about Sweden
• Details about Finland
When you have two countries (or two cities or any other two things
depicted on the graph), the simplest way of grouping data - is to describe
each country’s trend in a separate paragraph.
When giving specific features, you have to write exact
numbers/percentages and include as much details as you can.
In our case, the specific details may look as follows:
Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being
higher than Finland’s rate by approximately 8%. Then, it
rose to almost fifty percent in 2012. However, the figure
showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and
continued to decline steadily to the end of the period,
reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low-point of
about 37% in 2015.  
 
Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in
2011, and it decreased in 2012, when about one third of
marriages in Finland ended with a divorce (as opposed to
almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure experienced
a steady growth during the next two years. It rose to
approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around 3%
in 2014, and remained steady for the next year, outracing
the rate of Sweden.
Tips:
• When analyzing a bar-chart, we cannot always give exact details (due
to inaccuracies of the chart), so use
words around, about and approximately when giving inexact data.
• Give data for each year shown on the chart
 
The full answer + Practice
• It’s the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart
question. And now, let’s practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with
appropriate words.

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