BAR CHART_ the trick of IELTS
TYPE 1: TWO ITEMS WITH EASY DOCUMENTS (1 YEAR)
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the average daily sales of selected food items at the Brisk Café, by season.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
The bar graph shows how many servings of certain food items are sold on average every day in two different
seasons at the Brisk Café. The average number of sales of each item changed with the season.
Certain food items had much higher sales than others in the winter. Hot coffee had the highest
number of sales, with an average of 75 servings sold daily. Following this, the item with the second
highest number of sales was soup, with an average of 50 servings sold daily. Salad and ice cream had
average daily sales of 25 servings each, and iced coffee had the lowest number of sales, with close
to zero servings sold daily.
The sales numbers for each food item were different in the summer from what they were in the
winter. Iced coffee sales rose significantly, to an average of 40 servings sold daily. The item that had
the second highest number of sales was ice cream, with an average of 35 servings sold daily. Hot coffee
sales fell to just 30 servings daily. Soup and salad had the lowest number of sales, with 25 servings
sold daily on average.
In general, the average daily sales of each food item changed when the season changed. Certain
items were more popular in the winter, but certain others were more popular in the summer.
TYPE 2: TWO ITEMS WITH COMPLICATED DOCUMENTS (1
YEAR)
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar chart below shows the results of a survey conducted by a personnel department at a major
company. The survey was carried out on two groups of workers: those aged from 18-30 and those
aged 45-60, and shows factors affecting their work performance.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The bar graph shows the results of a survey which was conducted by a company and gives data on the
important factors that determine the work performance of employees.
As is observed, chances for personal development, relaxed working environment, opportunities
for promotion and salary are the main motivating factors for young people for their work
performance while comparatively aged people's work performance is affected by the factors like
money, competent boss and team spirit.
The young employees put the 'chance for personal development' as the most important factor for
work performance and more than 80% of them consider this as the most important factor for better
performance at work. Relaxed working environment, promotion prospects and money are three
other important factors for performance for this age group (….). The employees of the young group
place the work environment, job security and respects from colleagues are the least preferred
reasons for performance.
On the contrary, employees between 45 and 60, consider money and team spirit as two most
important issue for their performance. Job security, relaxed working environment and work
environment affect this group the least. Interestingly, the issues which are preferred by the same
percentage of both age groups of employees are team spirit (60%), competent boss (50%) and job
satisfaction (50%).
TYPE 3: TWO YEARS
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the percentage of part-time workers in each country of the United Kingdom
in 1980 and 2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
The bar chart shows the percentage of people who have part-time jobs in the countries that make up the
United Kingdom, both in 1980 and in 2010.
There has generally been a small increase in part-time workers from 1980 to 2010, except in
Northern Ireland. The graph also shows that England and Wales have far more part-time workers
than Northern Ireland and Scotland.
In 1980, 25% of people in England worked part time. The only country with a greater percentage of part-
time workers was Wales, with around 33% working part time. Both countries saw an increase in the
percentage of people working part time in 2010. In England, the percentage rose to over 30% and in
Wales percentage rose to just over 35%.
Scotland had the smallest percentage of part-time workers in 1980, with just over ten per cent.
However, this rose to almost 20% in 2010 which is a large increase. Lastly, Northern Ireland was the
only country which had a decreasing percentage of part-time workers. In 1980, it had around 15% of
people in part-time work. This decreased by a couple of per cent in 2010.
TYPE 4: THREE YEARS
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The chart below gives information about Someland's main exports in 2005, 2015, and future
projections for 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
This bar chart illustrates the performance of Someland's primary exports in 2005 and 2015. It also indicates
future projections for 2025.
According to the data, it seems likely that international tourism will become the dominant industry,
although dairy exports will remain strong.
In 2005, we can see that tourism was the greatest exports earner of the three industries, with
revenue standing at just over $6 billion. This figure has increased slightly, so that now, in 2015, it
has reached almost $7 billion. It is estimated that international tourism will continue to grow, so
that by 2025, it will be earning around $8 billion for the country. In 2005, dairy exports were worth
around $5 billion, but since then there has been a dramatic increase, and sales for this year are
approximately $8 billion. Experts are predicting that exports in this area may fall slightly, so a figure
of $7.5 billion is expected for 2025. Meat products are the third key industry in Someland, but sales have
dropped since 2005 and now stand at $3.5 billion. It is expected that sales will continue to decrease in
the future.
TYPE 5: MANY YEARS
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the figures (in thousand) for imprisonment in five countries between 1930
and 1980.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The bar chart depicts the number of prisoners in thousands, in five different countries, namely Great
Britain, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada during a period of 50 years
commencing from 1930.
Overall, the graph gives an impression that, incarceration rate in the USA and UK escalated over the
time while in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, it actually decreased.
As is evident in the presentation, Great Britain had the lowest number of imprisonments
throughout the initial 40 years till 1980. Interestingly, Britain had witnessed a steady growth in figures,
which started from around 30000 in the year 1930 and reached around 70000 in the year 1970. By
contrast, the United States had the maximum number of criminals throughout the entire span of years
except in the first decade, which is 1930. Moreover, in the year 1980, United States had to imprison the
highest number of citizens in the entire period, which accounted for around 130000.
It is apparent from the graph that the crime rate in Canada had fallen gradually and steadily, from
120000 people in 1930 to a significantly less 90000 people in 1980. However, except for the years, 1930
and 1980, Australia had considerably a smaller number of jailing and the New Zealand had always
positioned as top three consistently just behind Canada and the United States.
TYPE 6: COMPARISION
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar charts below show the percentages of men and women in employment in three countries in
2005 and 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
The two charts show the percentages of men and women in employment in three countries in the
years 2005 and 2015. In general, we can see that the percentages of working people increased, with
the proportion of women showing the most significant rise.
In all of the countries covered, and in both years, the number of men in employment was greater than
the number of women. South Korea has the highest rate of male employment – approximately
75% in 2005, rising slightly to about 78% in 2015 – and Canada has the lowest – just over 60% in 2005
and 70% in 2015.
The proportion of women in employment was lower than men in all of the countries covered
over the two years. It was below 50% everywhere in 2005, but the figures had risen by 2015. In
Canada, over half of the women were working, and in Sweden the figure was exactly 50%. In contrast,
the number of South Korean women who were working was only about 35% compared with a
percentage which was more than double for men at over 70%.
HOMEWORK
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one
European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The diagram delineates the type of transportations citizens of a European country used to travel to and from
their workplaces in three different years - 1960, 1980 and 2000. As an overall trend, cars gained a huge
popularity as the mode of commuting while bus lost its appeal as a viable mode of communication to these
Europeans.
As the diagram suggests, around four out of ten of these Europeans used buses to reach their offices and to
get back homes in 1960. Tubes were the second most prefered mode of transportation as more 25% people
took this form of vehicle. Interestingly, Only around one in every 18 people used cars to travel while trains
were preferred by roughly 18% citizens for commuting to and from offices. After two decades, trains and
personal cars gained their demands as more than half of the population used these two forms of transports.
Tubes and buses retained less proportion of commuters in this year and buses seem like lost its attraction
as a mode of transportation.
Finally, in 2000, more than one-third of these Europeans started using cars while only 15% of them used
buses to travel to and from their workplaces. Tubes retained almost one-fourth of the commuters while
train usage stood just above 20%.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the fertility rate of women in different Gulf Countries from 1990 to 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The provided bar graph compares the fertility rates of women in 6 different Gulf countries between 1990
and 2000. The fertility rate of those women was compared in two different years with a gap of 10 years -
1990 and 2000. As is evident in the bar graph, the fertility rates declined over the decade in all the countries
and women in Oman and Saudi Arabia had higher fertility rates than the women in other four countries.
In 1990, the fertility rate for each woman in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE was on an average between 3
to 4. However, these figures reduced to 2-3 by the year 2000. On the other hand, Omani and Saudi Arabian
women had the highest fertility rates during both of the years. Oman had the largest number of childbirths
per thousand women, which was 7 in 1990 and just above 5 in 2000. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia remained in
the second position with relatively a higher fertility rate. It is quite obvious to notice that the fertility rate
of women in all these Gulf countries reduced in 2000 than it was 10 years earlier.
To summarise, even though there was a decrease in the women fertility rates, Oman and Saudi Arabian
women continued to show a fairly higher fertility rate among the women in these 6 Gulf countries.
S+V
A/an/the + Adverb+ Adjective +Noun + Adverb +Verb+ Adverb
S+V+O
Adverb, A/an/the + Adverb+ Adjective +Noun + Adverb +Verb+ Adverb + A/an/the
+ Adverb+ Adjective +Noun +Adverb
