Academic Writing Task 1 · bar chart

Daily study hours of students at five different universities

The charts below give information about the number of hours that students study each day at five different universities.

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

Weekdays (hours per day)

View the data

	A	B	C	D	E
Study hours	9.8	10.1	10.6	9.6	10

Weekends (hours per day)

View the data

	A	B	C	D	E
Study hours	9	8.6	7.8	5.6	6.2

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 bar charts illustrate the daily study hours of students across five universities, labelled A to E, during weekdays and weekends. Overall, it is evident that students consistently dedicate more time to their studies on weekdays than on weekends. Furthermore, while weekday study patterns remain relatively stable across all institutions, there is significant variation in weekend study habits.

On weekdays, students at all five universities study for between 9.6 and 10.6 hours per day. University C reports the highest figure at 10.6 hours, followed closely by university B at 10.1 hours. Universities E, A, and D follow with 10.0, 9.8, and 9.6 hours respectively. The data indicates a high level of uniformity in academic commitment during the working week.

In contrast, weekend study hours show a downward trend across the institutions. University A leads with 9.0 hours, followed by university B at 8.6 hours and university C at 7.8 hours. Universities D and E show the lowest figures, at 5.6 and 6.2 hours respectively. Notably, university D experiences the most substantial drop in study time, falling from 9.6 hours on weekdays to just 5.6 hours on weekends.

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

How to write about bar charts

Compare the biggest and smallest bars before anything else.
If the bars show years, describe change; if they show places, describe rank.
Round sensibly and say 'just over' or 'nearly' rather than guessing decimals.

illustrate: to show or explain something using a visual
consistently: happening in the same way over a period
variation: a change or difference in condition or amount
uniformity: the state of being the same throughout
substantial: of considerable importance, size, or worth
downward trend: a general direction in which something is decreasing

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Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

Students generally study for longer durations on weekdays compared to weekends, with university C recording the highest weekday study time and university A the highest on weekends.

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 bar charts?

Compare the biggest and smallest bars before anything else. If the bars show years, describe change; if they show places, describe rank. Round sensibly and say 'just over' or 'nearly' rather than guessing decimals.