IELTS Writing Task 1: Bar Charts

Sep 28, 2026 | IELTS Test

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Chart: Choosing a University © Englishwithanexpert.com

Bar charts are among the most frequently set visuals in IELTS Writing Task 1, and grouped bar charts, where each category contains two or more bars, appear especially often. They look simple, which is part of the problem: with fifteen or more figures on the page, candidates either describe every bar in turn or pick a handful at random and leave the rest unreported. Both approaches limit Task Achievement. The examiner is looking for two things at once: an overview that captures the relationships between the groups, and body paragraphs that give every category a place while still reading as analysis. This model answer shows how to choose an organising principle (here, the factors rather than the age groups), how to build the overview around a genuine contrast, and how to report close values with precision.

The Task

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart below shows the percentage of students in three age groups who gave each of five reasons for choosing their university in 2022.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

You should write at least 150 words.

IELTS Writing Task 1, Bar chart reasons given by students for choosing a university, © Englishwithanexpert.com

Model answer

The bar chart compares the percentage of students in three age groups who cited each of five factors as a reason for selecting their university in 2022.

Overall, the priorities of the youngest and oldest applicants were near mirror images: academic reputation mattered most to those under 25 yet least to those aged 40 and over, whereas proximity to home showed precisely the reverse pattern. Course content was the only factor valued fairly consistently across all three groups.

Reputation was the dominant consideration for under-25s, cited by 62%, but its influence declined steeply with age, to 41% among 25 to 39-year-olds and just 24% among the oldest respondents. Proximity to home followed the opposite trajectory, rising from a mere 18% in the youngest cohort to 34% and then 60%, at which point it became the leading factor for mature students. The cost of tuition also grew in significance with age, from 29% to 46% and 51%.

The remaining two factors were less clear-cut. Career prospects peaked in the middle group at 57%, against 48% of the youngest and only 33% of the oldest respondents. Course content, by contrast, varied within a narrow band, edging up from 45% to 52% and 58%, and ranked second among those aged 40 and over.

Rationale: why this answer scores Band 8.5 to 9

Task Achievement

The response covers the requirements of the task fully. The introduction paraphrases the prompt without copying it (‘cited each of five factors as a reason for selecting’), and the overview does the work that separates the top bands from Band 6 or 7: rather than stating that percentages differ by age, it identifies a structural relationship, the mirror-image pattern between reputation and proximity, and names course content as the exception that changes least. All fifteen figures are reported, but they are organised into two groups: the three factors with a clear direction across age (reputation falling, proximity and cost rising) and the two that do not follow a simple line (career prospects peaking in the middle, course content barely moving). Key features are highlighted and illustrated with data, and nothing is omitted or misread. The chart’s footnote about multiple responses is handled correctly: the answer never treats the percentages as shares of a whole.

Coherence and Cohesion

The answer is organised by factor rather than by age group, which is the better choice for this chart because the interesting comparisons run across the age groups within each factor. Paragraphs follow a logical progression from the strongest patterns to the less obvious ones, and the final paragraph opens with a signpost (‘The remaining two factors were less clear-cut’) that tells the reader why these two are treated together. Cohesion is achieved without mechanical linking words: the contrasts are carried by ‘yet’, ‘whereas’, ‘by contrast’ and ‘the opposite trajectory’, and reference is managed through substitution (‘the youngest cohort’, ‘mature students’, ‘the oldest respondents’) so that ‘those aged 40 and over’ is not repeated in every sentence. This is the flexible, unobtrusive cohesion described at Band 9.

Lexical Resource

The vocabulary is precise and natural throughout, with a wide range of less common items used accurately: ‘cited by’, ‘mirror images’, ‘the reverse pattern’, ‘dominant consideration’, ‘trajectory’, ‘cohort’, ‘grew in significance’, ‘clear-cut’, ‘within a narrow band’ and ‘edging up’. Paraphrase is sustained rather than one-off: ‘reasons’ becomes ‘factors’ and ‘considerations’, ‘choosing’ becomes ‘selecting’, and the age groups are renamed in several ways. Collocations are those of academic reporting (‘declined steeply’, ‘peaked in’, ‘the leading factor’), and adverbs of degree (‘precisely’, ‘fairly consistently’, ‘a mere’) sharpen the comparisons. There are no spelling or word-formation errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Sentence structures are varied and controlled. The overview uses a colon to introduce an elaboration and a ‘whereas’ clause for contrast; the body paragraphs combine complex sentences with participle clauses (‘rising from a mere 18% … to 34% and then 60%’, ‘edging up from 45% to 52% and 58%’), a relative clause of result (‘at which point it became’), and compressed comparison (‘against 48% of the youngest and only 33% of the oldest respondents’). Past simple is used consistently for the single year shown, prepositions with figures are accurate throughout (‘to 41%’, ‘from 29% to 46% and 51%’, ‘at 57%’), and punctuation is fully controlled. The response is error-free, which is the requirement at Band 9.

Vocabulary glossary

Word / phrase	Meaning / use in context
cite (something) as a reason	To give something as a reason or example. In survey-based Task 1 questions, ‘cited by 62% of respondents’ is a precise alternative to ‘chosen by’ or ‘said by’.
mirror image	A pattern that is the exact opposite of another. Useful in the overview when two categories move in opposite directions across the groups or time periods shown.
the reverse pattern	The opposite tendency. ‘Showed precisely the reverse pattern’ allows you to describe a second contrast without repeating the figures.
dominant	Larger or more important than all the others. ‘The dominant consideration’ identifies the highest bar in a group without using ‘biggest’ or ‘most popular’.
decline steeply	To fall sharply. The adverb ‘steeply’ signals a large drop across categories, not just a slight difference.
trajectory	The direction in which something develops. ‘Followed the opposite trajectory’ compares the movement of two categories across the groups.
cohort	A group of people who share a characteristic, typically age. It paraphrases ‘age group’ and is common in academic reporting.
grow in significance	To become more important. A formal collocation for a category whose percentage rises across the groups.
clear-cut	Obvious and easy to interpret. ‘Less clear-cut’ introduces categories that do not follow a simple rising or falling pattern.
peak	To reach the highest value. As a verb, ‘peaked in the middle group’ pinpoints where a category is greatest.
within a narrow band	Between two values that are close together. It describes a category that changes very little across the groups.
edge up	To rise by a small amount. A precise verb for a modest, gradual increase, in contrast to ‘rise sharply’ or ‘soar’.

Vocabulary quiz

Part 1: multiple choice

Choose the best option to complete each sentence.

Reputation was the ______ consideration for younger applicants, chosen by almost two thirds of them.

A) dominant
B) narrow
C) reverse
D) clear-cut
The proportion of older students who mentioned cost rose slowly, ______ from 46% to 51%.

A) peaking
B) edging up
C) declining steeply
D) mirroring
Which sentence uses ‘cohort’ correctly?

A) The youngest cohort was the least likely to mention cost.
B) Cost was the most important cohort for older students.
C) The chart shows a cohort of 62%.
D) Each reason was cited by a different cohort of percentages.
If two categories are ‘mirror images’ of one another, they ______.

A) have almost the same figures in every group
B) rise together across the groups
C) show opposite patterns across the groups
D) both peak in the middle group
A category whose figures are 45%, 52% and 58% could best be described as varying ______.

A) dramatically
B) within a narrow band
C) in a mirror image
D) in a dominant way

Part 2: fill in the blanks

Word bank: cited, trajectory, grew in significance, clear-cut, peaked, declined steeply, dominant, edged up

Interest in career prospects ______ in the 25 to 39 group before falling away among older students.
Proximity to home was ______ by only 18% of the youngest respondents.
The importance of reputation ______ with age, from 62% to 24%.
Cost ______ as students got older, becoming the second most common reason among the over-40s.
The pattern for course content was less ______ than for the other factors, since it changed very little between groups.

Answer key

Part 1: 1 A, 2 B, 3 A, 4 C, 5 B

Part 2: 1 peaked, 2 cited, 3 declined steeply, 4 grew in significance, 5 clear-cut

Practise this question

Set a timer for 20 minutes and write your own response to the bar chart above before you re-read the model answer. Then compare the two: did your overview identify the mirror-image pattern? Did every factor get a mention? Were your comparisons across the age groups precise?