Academic Task 1
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Jobs by gender (bar chart)
Question type: Academic Task 1: bar chart
The question
The bar chart below shows the percentage of working men and women who were employed in four sectors in one country in 2020.
- Men
- Women
View the data as a table
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 24 | 9 |
| Construction | 18 | 3 |
| Health and education | 12 | 38 |
| Retail | 14 | 20 |
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Write your own answer first. Then get an estimated band and corrections from our AI marker.
Answer this questionHow to approach it
- Divide the sectors into two groups: those where men are ahead and those where women are ahead.
- Overview: men were concentrated in manufacturing and construction, women in health and education and retail.
- Include at least one comparison in words, such as 'six times as likely' or 'more than three times'.
Model answer
174 words (minimum 150). Written to show the features of a Band 8-level answer.
The bar chart compares the percentages of working men and women who were employed in four sectors of one country's economy in 2020.
Overall, there were striking differences between the two groups. Men were far more likely to work in manufacturing and construction, whereas women were concentrated in health and education and, to a lesser extent, retail.
Among men, manufacturing was the largest of the four sectors, employing 24% of male workers, followed by construction at 18%. The figures for women in these sectors were much lower, at 9% and just 3% respectively. This means that a man was six times as likely as a woman to work in construction.
The pattern was reversed in the other two sectors. Health and education was by far the biggest employer of women, accounting for 38% of female workers, more than three times the figure for men, which was 12%. Retail was the second most common sector for women, at 20%, compared with 14% of men. The gap here was therefore the smallest of the four sectors.
Useful language from this answer
- there were striking differences between
- opening an overview of a comparison
- were concentrated in
- mostly found in one place or group
- respectively
- giving two figures in the same order as two items
- the pattern was reversed
- the opposite was true
- accounting for
- making up a share of the total
Common mistakes with this question
- Missing the overview. A report without a clear summary of the main features cannot score above Band 5 for Task Achievement.
- Giving opinions about why men and women do different jobs. Describe the figures only.
- Writing '38% of women work in health' as if it meant 38% of health workers are women. Read what the percentage measures.
Now write your own answer
Reading a model helps, but writing is what improves your band. Answer this question and get an estimated band for all four criteria, with corrections taken from your own sentences.
This model answer was written by TestWise Prep to show the features of a high-scoring answer. It is not official IELTS material. Use it for ideas and language, not to memorise.