The bar charts below show the average of annual working hours and the average duration of holidays in five European countries.
Sample Response
The bar chartsThe line graphs compare the average annual working hourstypical duration of office hours and holidays in a year for the workersworking class people in five European countries, namely:namely- France, the UKUK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Overall, German employees have the longest working hours in a year but they enjoy the least amount of holiday timeduration of leaves and the reverse pattern is seena reverse scenario could be observed in Switzerland. According to the charts, a German employeeAccording to the illustration, A German works for around 1900 hours in a year on averageon an average and this figurethis working hour is higher than that of the remaining four European countries. Despite the highest working hours, Germans have the least holiday time, at 120 hoursleast hours as holidays which is 120. Swiss employees enjoy the longest holiday durationhighest duration of off from works which accounts for roughly 175 hours a year despite their shortest annual working timeleast duration of works in offices, 1200 hours annually. UKEnglish 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.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response offers a clear comparative overview and accurately reports the principal working-hour and holiday patterns across all five countries. Its strongest feature is the effective pairing of contrasting figures, although the final ratios add little and several awkward expressions weaken precision; the single-paragraph structure also makes the report less easy to scan. Use two purposeful detail paragraphs and replace unnatural employment and leave collocations with concise, standard chart language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The report presents a clear overview and accurately selects the main figures and contrasts from both charts, with only minor imprecision.
Replace the unnecessary ratio calculations with one direct comparison that reinforces the inverse pattern between work and holiday hours.
Coherence and Cohesion
The comparisons follow a logical country-based sequence and cohesive links are clear, but the single-paragraph format limits structural clarity.
Use an overview paragraph followed by two detail paragraphs that group the highest and lowest values and then the middle-ranking countries.
Lexical Resource
The response shows sufficient range for comparisons, but recurring awkward collocations such as 'duration of off from works' reduce naturalness and precision.
Prefer standard expressions such as 'annual working hours,' 'holiday entitlement,' and 'time off work.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied sentence forms communicate the comparisons clearly, although agreement, article, capitalisation, and noun-form errors recur throughout.
Check subject-verb agreement and uncountable noun phrases, especially constructions involving 'hours,' 'work,' and 'holiday time.'
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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.