IELTS Writing Task 1 – Bar Chart and Table (Language Courses)
The bar chart shows a change between two years, and the table gives two measures for one year. Check the unit of every number, put something from each chart in your overview, and pick out the highest and lowest figures in the table instead of copying every row.
Key points
The example question and chart from the video
The bar chart shows the number of students taking five language courses at one college in 2015 and 2025, and the table shows class sizes and pass rates in 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
| Course | Average class size | Pass rate (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | 18 | 82 |
| Chinese | 14 | 71 |
| French | 16 | 85 |
| German | 12 | 88 |
| Japanese | 15 | 74 |
Band 9 model answer from the video (196 words)
The bar chart compares how many students enrolled on five language courses at a particular college in 2015 and 2025, while the table gives the average class size and the percentage who passed each course in 2025.
Overall, Spanish had the largest number of students in both years, and Chinese and Japanese grew rapidly, but French and German lost students. In 2025, French and German had the highest pass rates, whereas the two Asian languages had the lowest.
In 2015, Spanish attracted 320 students, followed by French with 260. Ten years later, Spanish enrolments had risen to 410. The largest growth, however, was in Chinese and Japanese, which rose from 120 to 290 and from 90 to 240 respectively, more than doubling in each case. By contrast, French fell to 210 students, and German dropped from 180 to 150.
Turning to the table, German had the highest pass rate, at 88%, as well as the smallest classes, averaging 12 students. French was close behind, with 85% of students passing. Spanish, meanwhile, had the largest classes, at 18, and a pass rate of 82%. The lowest pass rates were in Japanese and Chinese, at 74% and 71%.
Chapters in this video (15)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:55Example Question
- 1:55How a Bar Chart and Table Are Different
- 2:49How to Read the Bar Chart and Table
- 3:43Finding the Overview
- 4:54Grouping the Information
- 5:46Words for Changes and Comparisons
- 6:51Answer Structure
- 7:24Writing the Introduction
- 8:40Writing the Overview
- 9:51Body Paragraph 1 (The Bar Chart)
- 11:10Body Paragraph 2 (The Table)
- 12:19Three Common Mistakes
- 12:52Final Answer
- 13:18Outro
Words for changes and comparisons
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| more than doubling | growing to over two times as much | Chinese rose from 120 to 290, more than doubling. |
| dropped | went down | German dropped from 180 to 150 students. |
| close behind | a little lower | French was close behind, with 85% of students passing. |
| respectively | in the same order as named | Japanese and Chinese had pass rates of 74% and 71% respectively. |
| averaging | with an average of | German had the smallest classes, averaging 12 students. |
Practice task: Museum visitors
The bar chart shows the number of visitors to five museums in one city in 2015 and 2025, and the table shows the average length of a visit and the percentage of satisfied visitors in 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
| Museum | Average visit (hours) | Satisfied visitors (%) |
|---|---|---|
| History | 2.5 | 86 |
| Art | 1.5 | 78 |
| Science | 3 | 92 |
| Natural History | 2 | 84 |
| Transport | 1 | 69 |
Check the units: the bars are thousands of visitors, and the table gives hours and percentages.
Overview: one sentence for the bars and one for the table, with no numbers.
The table is one year, so compare the museums. Don't use trend words for it.
Show model answer (try first!)
The bar chart compares the number of visitors to five museums in one city in 2015 and 2025, while the table shows the average length of a visit and the percentage of visitors who were satisfied in 2025.
Overall, the History and Science museums attracted the most visitors in 2025, and the Science Museum grew by far the most, whereas the Art and Transport museums lost visitors. In 2025, the Science Museum also had the longest visits and the highest satisfaction rate, while the Transport Museum had the lowest figures for both.
In 2015, the History Museum was the most popular, with 450,000 visitors, followed by the Art Museum with 380,000. Ten years later, the History Museum had risen to 520,000. The most dramatic change, however, was at the Science Museum, where visitor numbers more than doubled, from 210,000 to 460,000. The Natural History Museum also grew, from 300,000 to 350,000. By contrast, the Art Museum dropped to 300,000, and the Transport Museum fell from 150,000 to 90,000.
Turning to the table, visitors spent the longest time at the Science Museum, an average of three hours, and 92% of them were satisfied. The History Museum was close behind, with visits averaging 2.5 hours and a satisfaction rate of 86%. The Transport Museum, meanwhile, had the shortest visits, at just one hour, and the lowest satisfaction rate, at 69%. The Art and Natural History museums came in between, at 78% and 84% respectively.
242 words
This practice task and its model answer were written for the website. The video teaches the method with its own example (language courses), shown above.
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