Academic Writing Task 1 · table

Average retirement age of males and females in six countries in 2003

The graph below shows the average retirement age of males and females in six countries in 2003.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Cities	Men Years	Men Months	Women Years	Women Months
Australia	64	1	63	5
United States	65	6	64	2
Japan	67	4	66	9
Italy	58	2	57	3
France	57	4	56	9
Korea	68	8	67	2

Chart redrawn by BandLadder from the data in the original IELTS practice task. Many IELTS practice tasks come from the Cambridge IELTS series (Cambridge University Press & Assessment); all rights in the original tasks remain with their owners.

Band 8 sample answer

The table illustrates the average retirement age for men and women across six different countries in 2003. Overall, it is evident that men retired later than women in every nation listed. Furthermore, Korea and France represent the upper and lower extremes of retirement age, respectively.

In Korea, men retired at 68 years and 8 months, while women retired at 67 years and 2 months, marking the highest figures in the dataset. Japan followed closely, with men retiring at 67 years and 4 months and women at 66 years and 9 months. The United States also showed relatively high retirement ages, with men at 65 years and 6 months and women at 64 years and 2 months.

Conversely, European nations reported lower retirement ages. In Australia, men retired at 64 years and 1 month, compared to 63 years and 5 months for women. Italy and France recorded the lowest figures. In Italy, men retired at 58 years and 2 months, while women retired at 57 years and 3 months. France had the lowest retirement ages overall, with men retiring at 57 years and 4 months and women at 56 years and 9 months.

192 words. Every figure in the answer comes from the chart above.

How to write about tables

Tables hide the trend: find the highest, lowest and biggest change yourself.
Select; do not list every cell.
Organise paragraphs by row or by column, whichever gives the clearer comparison.

consistently: occurring in the same way over time
extremes: the highest and lowest points of data
followed closely: coming after something with a small difference
conversely: introducing a statement that contrasts with previous
recorded: set down in writing or other permanent form
overall: taking everything into account as a whole

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Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

Across all six countries, men consistently retired at a later age than women, with Korea recording the highest retirement ages for both genders and France recording the lowest.

How long should an IELTS Task 1 answer be?

At least 150 words; 170 to 200 is the safe range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.

How do I describe tables?

Tables hide the trend: find the highest, lowest and biggest change yourself. Select; do not list every cell. Organise paragraphs by row or by column, whichever gives the clearer comparison.