The bar charts below show the average of annual working hours and the average duration of holidays in five European countries.
Sample Response
The line graphs compare the typical duration of office hours and holidays in a year for the working class people in five European countries, namely- France, UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall, German employees have the longest working hours in a year but they enjoy the least duration of leaves and a reverse scenario could be observed in Switzerland. According to the illustration, A German works for around 1900 hours in a year on an average and this working hour is higher than that of the remaining four European countries. Despite the highest working hours, Germans have the least hours as holidays which is 120. Swiss employees enjoy the highest duration of off from works which accounts for roughly 175 hours a year despite their least duration of works in offices, 1200 hours annually. English and Finnish employees work for around 1600 hours annually and they enjoy roughly 140 hours’ free time off from work. Finally, employees in France spend 1500 hours in workplaces and have more than 150 hours’ holidays. French employees have approximately a ratio of 10:1 working hours and holiday duration but this ratio is almost 19:1.2 in Germany and 12:1.75 in Switzerland. Sample Answer 2:
The bar graphs outline the average duration of working hours and holidays in France, UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Generally speaking, Germans work more hours annually and enjoy the least duration of holidays and the reverse is true for the working hours and holiday ratio in Switzerland. The data in the first bar graph reveals that Germans have the highest number of office hours, around 1900 hours in a year for an employee, which is significantly higher than that of a Swiss employee. The least working hours could be observed in Switzerland which accounts for 1200 hours per person per year. An English work for over 1600 hours per year which is around 1500 and 1600 for French and Finns respectively. The second bar graph shows that, despite having the highest working hours, Germans have the least duration of holidays, 120 hours annually. Interestingly, Swiss employees are offered the highest holiday duration in spite of their least duration of office hours. The duration of holidays is almost the same in England and Finland, 140 hours roughly, but it is around 155 hours in France.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Name the visuals correctly Original: line graphs Suggested revision: bar charts Why it matters: The visuals use bars rather than lines.
- 2. State the measure Original: typical duration of office hours Suggested revision: average number of working hours Why it matters: The first chart measures annual working hours, not the duration of office opening hours.
- 3. Use a neutral noun Original: working class people Suggested revision: employees Why it matters: Employees is a more precise term for the people represented by the charts.
- 4. Remove the stray hyphen Original: namely- France Suggested revision: namely France Why it matters: A hyphen cannot introduce the country list after namely.
- 5. Add the article Original: UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall Suggested revision: the UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall Why it matters: The country name UK conventionally takes the definite article.
- 6. Use holiday wording Original: least duration of leaves Suggested revision: shortest holidays Why it matters: Leaves is the wrong plural form and duration is unnecessarily awkward here.
- 7. State contrast directly Original: a reverse scenario could be observed Suggested revision: the reverse is true Why it matters: The shorter expression conveys the same comparison more naturally.
- 8. Fix noun and case Original: A German works Suggested revision: a German employee works Why it matters: The mid-sentence article should be lowercase and employee identifies the person precisely.
- 9. Use the fixed phrase Original: on an average Suggested revision: on average Why it matters: On average is the standard adverbial expression.
- 10. Refer to the figure Original: this working hour Suggested revision: this figure Why it matters: The number represents a total of many hours, so the singular phrase working hour is inaccurate.
- 11. Fix number agreement Original: least hours as holidays which is 120 Suggested revision: fewest holiday hours, at 120 Why it matters: The revision uses the count noun correctly and avoids a singular verb referring to plural hours.
- 12. Use natural phrasing Original: highest duration of off from works Suggested revision: longest holiday duration Why it matters: The original phrase contains incorrect collocations and an uncountable use of work.
Suggested Rewrites
- line graphs bar charts
- typical duration of office hours average number of working hours
- working class people employees
- namely- France namely France
- UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall the UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall
- least duration of leaves shortest holidays
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response accurately identifies the central contrast between Germany and Switzerland and reports nearly all figures from both charts. Its main weakness is that it presents two versions of the answer in succession, causing extensive repetition and undermining the response's unity, while several awkward expressions and grammatical errors recur. The highest priority is to submit one concise, well-paragraphed report that groups the country comparisons once and uses precise employment and holiday vocabulary.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main trends and values are accurately covered, but the duplicated answer and unnecessary ratio calculations reduce focus and concision.
Present one report that highlights the Germany-Switzerland contrast and groups the remaining countries without repeating the full dataset.
Coherence and Cohesion
Each individual version has a recognisable progression, but placing two complete answers together creates substantial repetition and weak overall unity.
Use one introduction, one overview, and two focused detail paragraphs organised by the strongest contrasts and similar figures.
Lexical Resource
The response demonstrates adequate range, but recurring awkward collocations such as 'duration of off from works' and 'duration of leaves' reduce precision.
Use natural combinations such as 'annual working hours,' 'holiday entitlement,' and 'time off work' consistently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys meaning, although article, agreement, noun-form, and clause errors occur repeatedly.
Check subject-verb agreement and countable noun forms, especially in phrases such as 'an English employee works' and 'hours of holiday.'
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar charts below show the average of annual working hours and the average duration of holidays in five European countries.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.