IELTS Writing Task 1 · Academic

Bar chart: international students at three universities, 2015 to 2025

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 number of international students enrolled at three universities between 2015 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

International student enrolment (thousands)	2015	2020	2025
Northgate University	8	12	19
Riverton University	14	13	15
Seaview University	5	9	8

Band 8 model answer

153 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 how many international students, in thousands, were enrolled at Northgate, Riverton and Seaview universities in 2015, 2020 and 2025. Overall, Northgate grew fastest and overtook Riverton to become the largest recruiter of international students, while Riverton's numbers barely changed and Seaview's rose and then fell. In 2015 Riverton led with 14,000 international students, well ahead of Northgate on 8,000 and Seaview on 5,000. By 2020 Northgate had risen to 12,000, closing most of the gap with Riverton, which slipped slightly to 13,000, and Seaview had nearly doubled to 9,000. The final period produced the clearest change. Northgate's enrolment jumped to 19,000 in 2025, more than double its 2015 figure and the highest of the three. Riverton recovered to 15,000, only 1,000 above its starting point, whereas Seaview declined to 8,000. Consequently, the gap between the largest and smallest university widened from 9,000 in 2015 to 11,000 a decade later.

Why this answer earns band 8

"Northgate grew fastest and overtook Riverton" is an overview that names a trend and a crossover, the two things a chart over time is usually testing under Task Achievement.
"well ahead of Northgate on 8,000 and Seaview on 5,000" reports three figures in one sentence with a comparison built in, which is Task Achievement done efficiently.
"closing most of the gap", "slipped slightly", "nearly doubled" describe change in three different ways, the Lexical Resource range that stops a report repeating "increased".
"The final period produced the clearest change" is a topic sentence that signposts the paragraph before the numbers arrive, which is what Coherence and Cohesion rewards.
"whereas Seaview declined" and "Consequently, the gap ... widened" show contrast and consequence in complex sentences, scored under Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

The plan, reusable on any chart of this kind

Introduction (1 sentence): what is measured, the unit, who is compared and which years.
Overview (1-2 sentences): who ended highest, who changed most, any crossover. No figures.
Body 1 (60-70 words): the starting position and the middle year, with figures.
Body 2 (60-70 words): the final year and the biggest movement, ending with a sentence that measures the gap.

Phrases worth learning

overtook X to become the largest	for any crossover between two lines
well ahead of	to compare a leader with the rest in one clause
closing most of the gap	for a second line catching up without passing the first
more than double its 2015 figure	to compare an end value with a start value
the gap ... widened from X to Y	for a closing sentence that measures divergence

The chart gives three years only, so the report never claims to know what happened in between. Describing a "steady" rise from 2015 to 2025 when only the end points are shown is a common way to lose Task Achievement marks.

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 153 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.