Academic Writing Task 1 · mixed chart

Time spent on leisure and household activities in Britain daily

The table and chart below show the time spent on leisure and household activities in Britain.

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

Leisure activities (Average minutes per day)

Leisure activities (Average minutes per day)	Men	Women
TV, video, radio	137	118
Reading	18	19
Sport	15	11

Household activities (Average minutes per day) (Average minutes per day)

Men
Women

View the data

	cooking and washing	shopping	repair	clothes washing and ironing
Men	30	25	19	10
Women	75	35	9	30

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 provided table and bar chart illustrate the average daily time spent by British men and women on various leisure and household activities.

Overall, it is clear that men spend more time on leisure pursuits and repair work, whereas women spend considerably more time on domestic chores, particularly cooking and washing.

Regarding leisure, men spend the most time on TV, video, and radio at 137 minutes per day, compared to 118 minutes for women. Reading times are nearly identical, with women spending 19 minutes and men 18 minutes. Conversely, men participate in slightly more sport, averaging 15 minutes daily against 11 minutes for women.

In terms of household activities, the disparity is more pronounced. Women spend 75 minutes on cooking and washing, which is more than double the 30 minutes spent by men. Similarly, women spend 30 minutes on clothes washing and ironing, compared to only 10 minutes for men. Shopping also occupies more of women's time at 35 minutes, versus 25 minutes for men. The only category where men spend more time is repair work, at 19 minutes, while women spend only 9 minutes on this activity.

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

How to write about mixed charts

Write one overview sentence that links the two visuals.
Give each visual its own detail paragraph.
Point out where one chart explains the other.

pronounced: very noticeable, obvious, or strongly marked
disparity: a great difference between two or more things
conversely: in a way that is the opposite of something
pursuits: activities that you spend time doing, usually for pleasure
dedicate: to give a lot of time and effort to something
illustrate: to show or explain something using pictures or data

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Frequently asked questions

What should the overview say?

Overall, men spend more time on leisure and repair tasks, while women dedicate significantly more time to household chores such as cooking and cleaning.

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 mixed charts?

Write one overview sentence that links the two visuals. Give each visual its own detail paragraph. Point out where one chart explains the other.