IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 bar charts: how to compare without listing every number
Most people describe a bar chart one bar at a time. It feels safe. It is also the fastest way to stay at Band 6.
The task tells you to “summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant”. Read that again. It does not say “report every number”. It says pick the main features and compare.
So a bar chart answer is not a list. It is a short story about what is the same and what is different.
The mistake almost everyone makes
A bar chart shows how many hours a week teenagers in Japan, Spain and Canada spend on sport, games and homework.
Step 1: find what is the same everywhere
Before you write, look at the chart for one minute and ask: what is true for every group? In the example, homework is the biggest everywhere. That goes in your overview and in your first body paragraph.
Step 2: find the one that is different
Now ask: who breaks the pattern? Maybe Japan spends far more time on games than the others. That is your second body paragraph.
Same in one paragraph. Different in the other. You do not need a paragraph for each country.
Step 3: use numbers as proof, not as the story
Every comparison needs a number or two to support it. But the comparison comes first, then the number. Not the other way round.
Comparing Japan and Spain on games.
Words that compare
You do not need fancy words. You need words that put two things side by side:
- the most / the least
- by far the most
- twice as much as
- slightly more than / a little less than
- by contrast, whereas, while
- the one exception was
Your 20-minute plan
- 1 minute: what is the same everywhere? What is different?
- 2 minutes: write the overview with no numbers.
- 14 minutes: two body paragraphs, same then different, each comparison backed by one or two numbers.
- 3 minutes: check every paragraph compares at least two things.
Want to practise this properly? My interactive e-book From 6 to 7+ walks you through it step by step. You answer, it checks you, and it shows you why. Reading tips is not the same as using them.
Exam rules change. Always check with the exam provider and the organisation you are applying to.
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