IELTS Task 1 Bar Chart: Household Spending
Describe a bar chart comparing average weekly household spending in five categories in 2015 and 2025.
- Time
- 20 min
- Length
- 150-190 words
Writadia · B2 · IELTS Task 1
NameClassDate
Your task
- 2015
- 2025
Show the numbers as a table
| 2015 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 210 | 290 |
| Food | 95 | 120 |
| Transport | 60 | 55 |
| Leisure | 45 | 50 |
| Energy | 30 | 58 |
euros per week
Data invented for practice purposes.
The bar chart shows the average amount households in the city of Westford spent each week on five categories in 2015 and 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Writing toolkit
Open these only when you need them. Try the first draft on your own.
Plan it in steps
- Introduce the chart in your own words.
- Overview: the largest category and the general direction of change.
- Group the categories: big increases vs small or no change.
- Use approximate language and percentages where useful.
- Avoid listing every number in the same pattern.
Useful phrases
Overview
Comparing amounts
Change
Tap a phrase to add it to your text. Gaps (…) are selected so you can type over them.
Vocabulary
- account for
- form a part of a totalHousing accounted for most spending.
- roughly
- approximatelySpending rose by roughly 40%.
- dip
- fall slightlyTransport costs dipped.
- by far
- by a large amountHousing was by far the biggest cost.
Model answer (155 words)
Read it after you’ve written your own version. Notice the highlighted parts. The numbers explain why they work.
The bar chart compares how much the average household in Westford spent per week on housing, food, transport, leisure and energy in 2015 and 2025.1
Overall, weekly spending increased in four of the five categories, and housing was by far the largest expense in both years. The sharpest relative rise was in energy costs.2
Housing costs rose from 210 to 290 euros a week, an increase of almost 40%. Food was the second-largest category, with spending climbing from 95 to 120 euros over the same period.
The most striking change was in energy, where weekly spending almost doubled, from 30 to 58 euros. As a result, households spent more on energy than on leisure in 2025, reversing the position of 2015.3
By contrast, the other two categories changed very little. Spending on leisure increased only slightly, from 45 to 50 euros, while transport was the only category to fall, dipping from 60 to 55 euros.
- Introduction listing the categories briefly.
- Overview: main feature + most notable change.
- A change in ranking is a useful comparison.
Teacher notes
Grouping: strong Task 1 answers group data (big increases / stable / decreases) rather than going through categories one by one.
Check the maths: 210 → 290 is +38%, so "almost 40%" is accurate. Ask students to justify every approximation.
Extra challenge
Write one sentence comparing housing and food spending as a proportion of the total in 2025.
Lesson plan
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: account for, roughly, dip, by far.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Overall, spending rose in most categories, with ... remaining by far the largest expense.”, “... accounted for the largest share of ...”, “... was almost twice as much as ...”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (150-190 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
Assessment rubric
| Criterion | Band 7+ | Band 6 | Band 5 | Band 4 or below | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task Achievement | Clear overview; key features selected and compared. | Overview present; some details irrelevant or missing. | No clear overview; details listed mechanically. | Task largely not addressed. | |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Logical flow; varied, natural linking; clear paragraphs. | Generally organised; linking sometimes mechanical. | Weak organisation; few or faulty linkers. | Ideas not linked. | |
| Lexical Resource | Wide, precise vocabulary; few slips. | Adequate range; some errors that do not block meaning. | Limited range; noticeable repetition and spelling errors. | Very limited; meaning often lost. | |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Variety of complex structures; most sentences error-free. | Mix of simple and complex forms; errors rarely reduce clarity. | Mostly simple forms; frequent errors. | Errors seriously affect understanding. | |
| Total | |||||
Criterion names are the official IELTS criteria; descriptors are short classroom summaries. Each criterion carries equal weight.
Task checklist
- I wrote an overview.
- I grouped similar changes together.
- I used a variety of comparison structures.
Teacher comment
Peer-review sheet
Students swap texts and give each other feedback with this sheet.
Before you finish
Before you finish
- I wrote an overview.
- I grouped similar changes together.
- I used a variety of comparison structures.
Writadia · B2 · IELTS Task 1
Assessment rubric: IELTS Task 1 Bar Chart: Household Spending
| Criterion | Band 7+ | Band 6 | Band 5 | Band 4 or below | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task Achievement | Clear overview; key features selected and compared. | Overview present; some details irrelevant or missing. | No clear overview; details listed mechanically. | Task largely not addressed. | |
| Coherence and Cohesion | Logical flow; varied, natural linking; clear paragraphs. | Generally organised; linking sometimes mechanical. | Weak organisation; few or faulty linkers. | Ideas not linked. | |
| Lexical Resource | Wide, precise vocabulary; few slips. | Adequate range; some errors that do not block meaning. | Limited range; noticeable repetition and spelling errors. | Very limited; meaning often lost. | |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | Variety of complex structures; most sentences error-free. | Mix of simple and complex forms; errors rarely reduce clarity. | Mostly simple forms; frequent errors. | Errors seriously affect understanding. | |
| Total | |||||
Criterion names are the official IELTS criteria; descriptors are short classroom summaries. Each criterion carries equal weight.
Task checklist
- I wrote an overview.
- I grouped similar changes together.
- I used a variety of comparison structures.
Teacher comment
Writadia · B2 · IELTS Task 1
Peer-review sheet: IELTS Task 1 Bar Chart: Household Spending
WriterReviewer
Read your partner’s text carefully. Be kind and specific: say why, not just “good”.
Task checklist
| Yes | Partly | No | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I wrote an overview. | |||
| I grouped similar changes together. | |||
| I used a variety of comparison structures. |
Questions
- Does the text cover every point in the task?
- Are there paragraphs? What is each one about?
- Write two linking words the writer used.
- Is there a sentence you had to read twice?
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Writadia · B2 · IELTS Task 1
Lesson plan: IELTS Task 1 Bar Chart: Household Spending
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: account for, roughly, dip, by far.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Overall, spending rose in most categories, with ... remaining by far the largest expense.”, “... accounted for the largest share of ...”, “... was almost twice as much as ...”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (150-190 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
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