Bar Charts: Introductions & Overviews (British Council Academic IELTS: Writing): Study Material

Bar charts: introductions & overviews

Rephrasing the question

• In IELTS Writing Task 1, you may have to describe a bar chart. A bar chart might show change over time or only compare categories. 

• A typical bar chart that shows change over time looks like this:

• A typical bar chart comparing categories looks like this:

• A good introduction usually includes two parts:

  • An introductory sentence that rephrases the task question (one sentence)

  • An overview describing the main features of the chart (two sentences)

• First, check what the bar chart is showing

• Make sure you understand the chart before you start writing the introduction

• Identify the main parts of the chart clearly: vertical axis, horizontal axis, categories and groups 

• Your introductory sentence should not copy the task question

• You will lose marks in “Task Achievement” if you simply copy the task question

• To avoid that, use the task question as your starting point and circle the keywords in it

• Think of synonyms for those keywords and use them to paraphrase the task question

• Make sure your paraphrase keeps the same meaning as the question

• You do not need to paraphrase every single word (terms like “bar chart” can stay the same)

• In your introductory sentence, do not include detailed data or comparisons

Example of a good introductory sentence

• Task question:

  • The bar chart shows the number of tourists visiting Rome, Paris and Berlin between 2018 and 2022

• A possible introduction:

  • The chart provides information about holiday makers in three European cities between 2018 and 2022, measured in thousands

Bar charts: finding the overview

• After your first introductory sentence, you need to write the overview

• This is the part where you give an overview of the main features shown in the bar chart

• Your overview should show that you understand the big picture, so focus on overall patterns

• Avoid describing small details

• Look for the highest and lowest values, because these are often key features

• What you should look for:

  • Whether the differences between categories are large or small

  • Whether some categories have similar figures

  • Any clear groupings (e.g. two high and two low categories)

Example of a good overview

• Task question:

  • The bar chart shows the number of tourists visiting Rome, Paris and Berlin between 2018 and 2022

• A possible overview:

  • Overall, Paris recorded the highest figures at the beginning of the period, whereas Rome became the most visited city by 2022. Berlin had the lowest number of tourists throughout, although its figures increased steadily