IELTS Writing Task 1 · Academic

Bar chart: home internet access by region, 2005 and 2022

A real-format chart task with a band 8 report written from its data, the plan behind it, and the phrases worth keeping. Aim for 150 to 190 words in 20 minutes.

The task

The chart below shows the percentage of households with home internet access in five regions of a country in 2005 and in 2022. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Households with home internet access (%)	North	South	East	West	Central
2005	38	31	27	35	22
2022	93	88	81	91	74

Band 8 model answer

184 words. The minimum is 150, and anything under it is penalised on Task Achievement; a strong answer sits between 150 and 190, which leaves time to check the figures.

The bar chart shows what percentage of households had home internet access in five regions of a country in 2005 and in 2022. Overall, access expanded enormously everywhere, with every region moving from a minority of households to a large majority. The North was best connected in both years, while the Central region lagged behind throughout. In 2005 the North led with 38 percent, followed by the West on 35 percent and the South on 31 percent. The East stood at 27 percent and the Central region at just 22 percent, so fewer than a quarter of households there were online. By 2022 the same order held. The North reached 93 percent and the West 91 percent, while the South stood at 88 percent. The East, at 81 percent, exactly tripled its 2005 figure, and the Central region, on 74 percent, more than tripled its own. The increases were strikingly uniform, between 52 and 57 percentage points, with the South gaining most and the Central region least, so the gap between the best and worst connected regions widened slightly from 16 to 19 points.

Why this answer earns band 8

"moving from a minority of households to a large majority" sums up the size of the change for all five regions with no number, a clean overview that satisfies Task Achievement.
"so fewer than a quarter of households there were online" turns 22 percent into plain language, an interpretation of the figure that goes beyond copying it and strengthens Task Achievement.
"By 2022 the same order held." tells the reader that the ranking is unchanged and lets the writer skip repeating it, a compact piece of Coherence and Cohesion.
"exactly tripled its 2005 figure" is a precise multiplier, and it is exactly right (27 to 81), the kind of Lexical Resource that makes a report sound measured rather than vague.
"with the South gaining most and the Central region least" is an absolute construction that adds a comparison without a new sentence, which shows the Grammatical Range and Accuracy of a band 8 report.

The plan, reusable on any chart of this kind

Introduction (1 sentence, 20-30 words): the measure, the five regions and the two years.
Overview (2 sentences, 30-40 words): the scale of the rise, and which region led and which lagged in both years. No numbers.
Body 1 (40-50 words): the 2005 ranking from highest to lowest, ending with an interpretation of the lowest figure.
Body 2 (80-90 words): the 2022 ranking, two multipliers, then the spread of the increases and the change in the gap.

Phrases worth learning

lagged behind throughout	for a category that stays at the bottom in every period
the same order held	to say the ranking did not change instead of listing it again
exactly tripled	for a figure that is precisely three times the earlier one
strikingly uniform	when several categories change by almost the same amount
widened slightly from 16 to 19 points	to measure a small change in the gap between the top and bottom

The multipliers and the gap in this report were checked by calculation: 81 divided by 27 is exactly 3, and the gap is 93 less 74 in 2022 and 38 less 22 in 2005. Always work out a comparison from the two correct chart values, because one wrong subtraction in an otherwise fluent report still costs Task Achievement.

Questions about this answer

What band is this model answer?

It is written to band 8, and the notes under it quote the answer's own words to show why.

How long should a Task 1 answer be?

Aim for 150 to 190 words in 20 minutes. This model answer is 184 words, and anything under 150 is penalised on Task Achievement.

What is the most common mistake on Task 1?

Writing under the 150 word minimum, which is penalised on Task Achievement, or running out of time to check the figures.