- Bar charts compare categories, sometimes at different times. Write at least 150 words in about 20 minutes.
- Use four paragraphs: introduction, overview, and two detail paragraphs.
- Focus on comparisons: the highest, the lowest, the biggest change and the gaps between groups.
- Use “percentage points” for the difference between two percentages.
Bar charts are one of the most common tasks in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. Unlike a line graph, which is mostly about trends, a bar chart usually asks you to compare: which group is biggest, which is smallest, and how they differ.
This guide gives you a clear structure, the comparison language that examiners reward, and a complete model answer for the chart below. If you haven't yet, read our line graph guide too: the structure is the same.
What an IELTS bar chart task looks like
The chart below shows the percentage of adults in four age groups in Lakeview who did regular exercise in 2005 and 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Percentage of adults in Lakeview who did regular exercise, by age group, 2005 and 2025
Two kinds of bar chart
- Charts that compare categories at one time, such as spending on different products in one year. Here you use comparison language only.
- Charts that compare categories at different times, like the Lakeview chart. Here you compare the groups and describe how each one changed, so you need trend language too.
A simple 4-paragraph structure
- 1Introduction (1 sentence)
Paraphrase the task: shows becomes compares, did regular exercise becomes exercised regularly.
- 2Overview (2 sentences)
The two most important features, with no numbers.
- 3Details 1 (3–4 sentences)
Compare one group of bars with key figures. Here: the three younger age groups.
- 4Details 2 (3–4 sentences)
Compare the rest, and point out the most striking difference. Here: the over-60s and the narrowing gap.
How to write the overview
Ask yourself four questions before you write:
- Which category is highest, and which is lowest?
- If the chart shows two times, did the figures generally rise or fall?
- Which category changed the most?
- Is there a clear pattern, such as figures falling with age?
Overall, the proportion of people who exercised regularly increased in every age group over the twenty years. Young adults were the most active in both years, but the biggest change was among the oldest group, where the figure almost doubled.
Language for comparing
| To describe… | Useful language |
|---|---|
| Biggest and smallest | the highest / the lowest / the largest proportion / the least popular |
| Comparing two figures | higher than / lower than / slightly more than / far fewer than |
| Similar figures | a similar proportion / roughly the same / almost identical |
| Multiples and fractions | twice as many as / almost doubled / just over half / a third of |
| Differences | a gap of 20 percentage points / the difference narrowed / widened |
| Linking figures | compared with / whereas / while / respectively |
For trends over time (rose, fell, peaked, levelled off), see the vocabulary tables in our line graph guide.
Model answer
A complete answer to the Lakeview task, about 180 words. Useful language is highlighted.
The bar chart compares the percentage of adults in four age groups who did regular exercise in Lakeview in 2005 and 2025.
Overall, the proportion of people who exercised regularly increased in every age group over the twenty years. Young adults were the most active in both years, but the biggest change was among the oldest group, where the figure almost doubled.
In 2005, just over half of 18–29-year-olds (52%) exercised regularly, compared with 41% of those aged 30–44 and a third of people aged 45–59. By 2025, these figures had risen to 58%, 47% and 45% respectively, with the 45–59 group showing the largest increase of the three, at 12 percentage points.
The over-60s had the lowest rate in both years. However, their figure rose from only 20% to 38%, a rise of 18 percentage points. As a result, the gap between the youngest and oldest groups narrowed considerably, from 32 to 20 percentage points.
Why this answer works
- Task Achievement: a clear overview of the general rise and the most dramatic change, with accurate supporting figures.
- Coherence and Cohesion: the bars are grouped logically, with the over-60s, the most interesting group, in their own paragraph.
- Lexical Resource: precise comparison language such as respectively, just over half and percentage points.
- Grammar: accurate past and past perfect tenses (had risen) and complex sentences with where, with and compared with.
This model shows the kind of answer examiners associate with the highest bands. Your score depends on your own writing on the day.
6 common bar chart mistakes
- Describing every bar in order. Group the data and compare instead.
- No overview. Without one, your Task Achievement score is limited, however good your English.
- Mixing up percent and percentage points. A rise from 20% to 38% is 18 percentage points.
- Explaining reasons. Don't guess why older people exercise more. Only report what the chart shows.
- Wrong figures. Double-check every number you write against the chart.
- Spending too long. Finish in about 20 minutes and move on to Task 2.
How to practise bar charts
- For each chart, write just the overview first, in under five minutes, then the full report.
- Type your report and check the length with the free IELTS word counter.
- Get a band estimate on your Task 1 report with the free IELTS writing checker.
Get your Task 1 reports marked
Write Task 1 in the real exam format and get an AI band score with feedback on all four criteria.
- Bar charts, line graphs, tables, maps and processes
- A band for each criterion, with corrections
- Track your Writing band as you improve
