IELTS Writing Task 1 GDC English

How to describe a bar chart

How to organize a report to get high score in Task Achivement & Coherence-Cohesion
Introduction: paraphrase the words of the question, including all information from the two
axis and the names of categories.
Overview: (khả năng đọc biểu đồ) state two main key features, the first one is the
differences in the figures of each category compared to others, the second one is the highest
or lowest points of each category or each group of similar categories.
Body 1: Follow the overview, describe those categories which shows the highest or lowest
points first/ or describe those which have the same features.
Body 2: Describe the rest.
(be noticed: if there are too many figures, try to group categories showing the same
features).

How to use words & structures to get high score in Lexical Resources & Grammartical
Range and Accuracy
Beside some techniques that we normally use in line graph, there are a couple of diffrences
listed below.
1. Use different structures
Significantly focusing on using comparative structures and expression for specific figures &
differences.
Comparative 5 times as much as, 5 times higher than, over double that of,
etc.
Superlative Was by far the most common, the most widely used, spent
most of money on, is the highest among, etc.
Specific figures Account for 10%, represent $200,000, 50% of N say S V O,
grow five-fold, verb at, the N of,
Differences Narrow/widen the gap between, a significant difference
between A & B, by around…
So sánh với (compared to, in comparision with), Thay vì,
ngược lại với (as opposed to N, at…)

2. Be careful with the language used when time mentioned and not mentioned.
Time mentioned Time not mentioned
The price rose from £380 for Phone B to Phone C cost £30 more than Phone B,

By Mr. Alex (Phan Anh) 1

IELTS Writing Task 1 GDC English
£410 for Phone C. which cost £380.
The gap between 3 types mentioned were There was a noticable gap between 3
narrowed towards the end of the period. types mentioned.

Practice:
Ex1: The chart below shows the expenditure of two countries on consumer goods in 2010
(units: pounds sterling).

Key 1: UK>Fr (camera – double)

Key 2: Car (highest), Per (lowest – UK), Cam (lowest – Fr)
Alex’s essay:

The bar chart gives information about the amount of money spent on 5 different consumer
goods of two countries UK and France, in 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, the expenditure on consumer goods of the UK was higher than that of France,
especially on cameras, in which the figure for the UK over doubled the figure for France.
Additionally, cars were the most widely consumed in both countries while the lowest
figures recorded were on perfume in the UK and cameras in France.

With regards to cars, the British spent £ 450,000, which was higher than £400,000 of the
French. Similarly, the amount of money spent on books in the UK was greater than that in
By Mr. Alex (Phan Anh) 2
IELTS Writing Task 1 GDC English
France, at about £ 400,000 and £ 300,000 respectively. The most noticable figures were on
camereas, in which about £ 350,000 was spent in the UK and a much lower amount of
money (£150,000) was recorded in France.

In terms of the remaining goods, the amount of money spent on computers in France was
slightly/moderately greater than in the UK, accounting for nearly £400,000 and £350,000
respectively. The same pattern was seen on perfume, with £200,000 spent by the French and
only £150,000 for the British.

Liz’s Essay:

The bar chart gives information about the amount of money spent on 5 different consumer
goods of two countries UK and France, in 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, the UK spent more money on consumer goods than France in the period given.
Both the British and the French spent most of their money on cars whereas the least amount
of money was spent on perfume in the UK compared to cameras in France. Furthermore, the
most significant difference in expenditure between the two countries was on cameras.

For cars, people in the UK spent about £450,000 on this as opposed to the French at
£400,000. Similarly, the British expenditure was higher on books than the French (around
£400,000 and £300,000 respectively). In the UK, expenditure on cameras (just over
£350,000) was over double that of France, which was only £150,000.

On the other hand, the amount of money paid out on the remaining goods was higher
France. Above £350,000 was spent by the French on computers which was slightly more
than the British who spent exactly £350,000. Neither of the countries spent much on
perfume which only accounted for £200,000 of expenditure in France but under £150,000 in
the UK.

By Mr. Alex (Phan Anh) 3

IELTS Writing Task 1 GDC English

Ex2: The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone call in
the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002.

Sample answer:

The bar graph shows the combined time spent in billions of minutes, on three different
kinds of phone calls in the United Kingdom, from 1995-to 2002.

Overall, local calls were the most popular over the whole period, with national and
international calls and calls on mobiles second and third respectively. However, the
number of minutes spent on international and national calls and mobiles both increased
over the period; with mobile minutes increasing dramatically, thus narrowing the gap
between the three categories by 2002.

Minutes spent on local calls fluctuated over the time period, with just over 70 billion
minutes in 1995, peaking at approximately 90 billion in 1999 and then steadily decreasing
to just over 70 billion minutes in 2002.

By Mr. Alex (Phan Anh) 4

IELTS Writing Task 1 GDC English
National and international calls increased steadily year on year, from just under 40 billion
minutes in 1995 to a peak of just over 60 billion in 2002. Mobile minutes increased at a
very rapid pace from approximately 3 billion in 1995 to around 45 billion in 2002. Mobile
phone usage nearly doubled from approximately 22 billion minutes in 2000 to 40 billion in
2001.

Ex3: The charts below show the internet use in different purposes in Australia in 2010,2011
and the percentage by users. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features and make comparisons where relevant.

By Mr. Alex (Phan Anh) 5