A bar chart asks you to compare, not to read
A bar chart shows amounts for different categories side by side, so you can see which is bigger and which is smaller at a glance. That is the whole point of it. Your one job is to COMPARE and GROUP the bars, not to read them out one by one. If the bars are spread over different years, you also describe how they changed over time. Get the comparing right and the rest of the report almost writes itself.
What to describe in a bar chart
✓Find the HIGHEST and the LOWEST bar first. These go in your overview.
✓GROUP similar bars together instead of going bar by bar (the tall ones, the short ones, the ones that are close).
✓Use comparatives to link the bars: higher than, the most, twice as much as, far more than.
✓If the bars are over time (for example each year), also describe the trend: did they rise, fall, or stay stable?
✓Keep numbers approximate in the body (just over, nearly, roughly), and keep them OUT of the overview.
✓Do not describe every single bar. Select the important ones and compare them.
How to group instead of listing
Grouping just means putting bars that behave alike into one sentence. Look for the two or three tallest bars and describe them together, then the shortest ones together, then anything in the middle. For example, instead of four separate sentences about coffee, tea, juice, and water, you write: "Coffee and tea were by far the most popular drinks, while juice and water were chosen far less often." One sentence, two comparisons, and the examiner sees that you can select and compare, not just copy numbers.
Comparison words that make bar charts easy
1the highest / the lowest
the biggest bar and the smallest bar.
Example: Spain had the highest number of visitors, while Poland had the lowest.
2the least popular
the option chosen by the fewest people (the shortest bar).
Example: Cycling was the least popular way to get to work.
3exceed
to be more than something else.
Example: Spending on housing exceeded spending on food in every country shown.
4significantly
by a large, clear amount.
Example: Men read significantly more newspapers than women.
5slightly
by a small amount.
Example: Tea was slightly more popular than coffee among older people.
6just over
a little more than a number (good for approximate figures).
Example: Just over half of the students chose science subjects.
7a quarter
25 percent, or one part in four.
Example: About a quarter of the group traveled by bus.
8more than half
over 50 percent (a useful way to describe a tall bar).
Example: More than half of all trips were made by car.
9rise
to go up (use this when the bars are over time).
Example: The number of tourists rose steadily from 2010 to 2020.
Listing vs comparing: see the difference
Bar by bar vs grouped
✕Coffee was 40 percent. Tea was 38 percent. Juice was 12 percent. Water was 10 percent.
✓Coffee and tea were by far the most popular drinks, while juice and water together made up only about a fifth.
Reading each bar in its own sentence shows no skill. Grouping the tall bars and the short bars into one comparison is exactly what Task Achievement rewards.
'It is big' vs a real comparison
✕The bar for cars is big.
✓Far more people traveled by car than by any other means, at just over half of all trips.
"Big" says nothing on its own. A comparative like "far more... than" names the relationship between the bars and adds an approximate figure.
No overview vs an overview that names the extremes
✕The chart shows how people traveled to work in 2020. Twenty percent used the bus...
✓Overall, the car was the most popular way to travel to work, while the bicycle was the least.
Jumping straight into numbers with no big picture is the top Task 1 mistake. A strong bar-chart overview names the highest and lowest bar, with no numbers.
Read next
Keep going with the series: how to describe a line graph and how to write a strong overview.
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