Writing a Report

Chart Description
 Chart Description
• Charts generally show figures in percentages/ numbers and comparing
and contrasting language must be used to reflect this.
 Percentages: Proportions / Fractions
the percentage of…
a large proportion of .../ a significant majority of... (70%)
a small minority of … (15%)
an insignificant minority of … (3%)
Fractions
nearly three quarters of ...(73%)
over a half … (55%)
50%- exactly a half of ...

44%- under a half of ...

a tiny fraction of ...(3%)
E.g. 47% of the population used cable internet connection. = The largest proportion of British (47%) used
cable internet connection. = Under/ Nearly a half of British population (47%) used cable internet connection.
 Avoid mistakes in presenting percentage(s)
Percent vs percentage vs percentages (> 2 statistics)

Percent is generally used with a number. Percentage(s) is not used with a number.

Examples:

1. Test results showed higher percentages in most subjects, sometimes up to 20 percent

higher.
2. Jimmy and Sean had the highest field goal percentages for the night, shooting 63 and
68 percent, respectively.
3. Rates went down by a large percentage.
4. More than 95% of the participants who responded to the survey reported positive results.
5. Forty percent of the chocolate was missing.
 Complete the gaps choosing between percent vs percentage vs percentages
1. Overall, a greater percentage/percentages of British people gave money to charity in
2000 than in 2015.
2. The data shows the difference between the percent/percentages of male and female
employees doing part-time jobs.
3. The higher percentages/proportion reported above may present two major risks.
4. In 2000, 42 proportion/percent of the female group made charitable donations.
5. A comparison with previous years can thus only be made on the basis of
proportion/percentages.
6. Going out to restaurants decreased dramatically to 7 percent/percents.
7. Proposals with concrete numbers are listed from lowest to highest
percent/percentages.
8. The dependent variables for the linear regression models are the percent/percentages
of expected corn and soybean production forward priced.
9. A small proportion/percent of graduates are self-employed.
10. The graph shows that the percentage/percent of 15 to 30-year-olds who are
theatre-goers is higher than other groups.
 Chart Analysis Practice 1: 1 minute 30 seconds
Q1: Results that senior students from a large high school received in an international
mathematics examination. A pass in this examination is regarded as a mark of 40 or more. How
many students in this high school failed to pass this mathematics examination?

a. 167
b. 279
c. 187
d. 299
 Anwer: Question 1
Q1) Results that senior students from a large high school received in an international
mathematics examination. A pass in this examination is regarded as a mark of 40 or more. How
many students in this high school failed to pass this mathematics examination?

a. 167
b. 279
c. 187
d. 299

The mark categories indicating failure are 0-9, 10-19, 20-29 and 30-39. The number of marks in
those categories was 23, 32, 45 and 67. 23 + 32 + 45 + 67 = 167.
 Chart Analysis Practice 2: 1 minute 20 seconds
Q2) Results that senior students from a large high school received in an
international mathematics examination. Which of the following mark intervals
contains the highest percentage of students who sat this examination?

a. 30-39
b. 50-59
c. 10-29
d. 90-99
 Answer: Question 2
Q2) Results that senior students from a large high school received in an
international mathematics examination. Which of the following mark intervals
contains the highest percentage of students who sat this examination?

a. 30-39
b. 50-59
c. 10-29
d. 90-99

The largest number in a mark interval shown is 128. The interval associated with this number is 50-59.
 Analyze the chart(s)
The bar chart below shows the percentage of students who passed their high school exams in Wales in 2019,
by subject and gender. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.

1. How many subjects are presented?

2. What do the different colors/shades of the bars show?

3. When was the data collected? -> Verb tense?

4. The highest percentage? The lowest percentage?

The similarities? The differences?

 Analyze the chart(s)
The given bar chart shows the percentages of boys
and girls who were successful in their seven-subject high
school exams in Wales in 2019.
Overall, students of both sexes did best in Computer
Science, Mathematics, and Foreign Languages although
girls performed better in most subjects than boys.
As can be seen, girls achieved by far their best
results in Computer Science, with a pass rate of 56.3%,
which was around 14% higher than the boys. The
difference was even greater in Chemistry, where over
16% more girls passed. The only subject where boys’
results were better than girls’ was Geography where
they achieved a pass rate of 30.4%, which was 10%
higher than the result for girls.
Both boys and girls had the similar results in the
two subjects, namely Foreign Language and Mathematics,
with a difference of less than 1%. Physics and History are
the two subjects which witnessed a small difference in
the test performance between boys and girls, just under
3% of girls did better than boys. (172 words)
 Chart Description
The given bar chart shows the percentages of boys and
girls who were successful in their seven-subject high school
exams in Wales in 2019.
Overall, students of both sexes (1) did best in Computer
Science, Mathematics, and Foreign Languages although
girls (2) performed better in most subjects than boys.
As can be seen, girls (3) achieved by far their best
results in Computer Science, with a pass rate of 56.3%,
which was around 14% (4) higher than the boys. The
difference was (5) even greater in Chemistry, where over
16% (6) more girls passed. The only subject where boys’
results were (7) better than girls’ was Geography where
they achieved a pass rate of 30.4%, which was 10% higher
than the result for girls.
Both boys and girls had (8) similar results in the two 1. achieved by far
subjects, namely Foreign Language and Mathematics, with 6. did best
2. better than
a difference of less than 1%. Physics and History are the two 7. higher than
3. more girls
8. did better than
subjects which (9) witnessed a small difference in the test 4. even greater
9. performed better
performance between boys and girls, just under 3% of girls 5. witnessed a small
10. similar results
(10) did better than boys. (172 words) difference
 Comparing and contrasting Language
• Comparative = Starting with the subject:
Blue cars are nearly/ just/almost as common as…..
Spain is (not) as popular

Blue cars are (considerably/ far/ much/ slightly) more common than….
Spain is (considerably/ far/ much/ slightly) less popular

Practice: Write a sentence about how the British

accessed the internet in 2010.
 Comparing and contrasting Language
• Comparative = Starting with the adjective:
(Not) as many red cars are sold as…
Twice/ three times as many women are employed in X

(Considerably/ far/ much/ slightly) more red cars are sold than…
(Considerably/ far/ much/ slightly) less/fewer women are employed in X

Practice: Write a sentences about how the British

accessed the internet in 2010.
 Comparing and contrasting Language
• Superlative = Starting with the subject:
Blue cars are the (second/ third) most common car colour.
Spain is the least popular holiday destination.

• Starting with the adjective:

The greatest/ highest/largest percentage of women are employed in the X
The lowest/ smallest proportion of cars sold are red
number of holiday makers come from Spain
 Practice
The chart below shows the average hours of unpaid work per week done by people in different categories. (Unpaid work
refers to such activities as childcare in the home, housework and gardening.)
Describe the information presented below, comparing results for men and women in the categories shown. Suggest
reasons for what you see.
 Graph & Chart Combination
The first graph illustrates the percentage of the population who owned
a smartphone from 2011 to 2016, and the second chart breaks the
percentages down by age for 2011 and 2016.

Overall, smartphone ownership increased during the six-year period.

In general, the younger people were more likely to own a smartphone.
However, the most significant increases in smartphone ownership between 2011 and 2016 came from people
aged 45 to 54, from 46% to 84%; from those in the 55 to 64 category, from 9% to 59%; and from those aged 65
to 74, from 5% to 50%. (graph description)

The percentage of people who owned a smartphone rose steadily, starting at around 35% in 2011 and reaching
about 77% by 2016. People aged 16 to 24 represented the greatest percentage of smartphone ownership in
both 2011 and 2016. 75% of people aged 25 to 34 and 72% of those aged 35 to 44 owned a smartphone in
2011, rising to 88% and 86% respectively by 2016. Although almost nobody in the 75+ age category owned a
smartphone in 2011, 15% of this group owned smartphones in 2016. (chart description)
 Chart Describing Practice
The pie charts show the average consumption of food in the world in 2008
compared to two countries; China and India.
• Write a report to a university lecturer describing the data.
• Write at least 150 words.