IELTS Academic Writing Task 1/ Graph Writing – Bar Graphs:
» You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar charts below show the average annual working hours and the average duration of holidays in five European countries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Average number of working hours per person in a year
Average duration of holidays in hours per person in a year
Sample Answer 1:
The line graphs compare the typical duration of working hours and holidays in a year for the working class people in five European countries: namely, France, the UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland.
Overall, German employees have the longest yearly working hours and the shortest leave durations. A reverse scenario could be observed in Switzerland.
According to the illustration, a German works around 1,900 hours a year on average, which is higher than that of the remaining four European countries. Despite the highest yearly working hours, Germans have the fewest hours as holidays, which is just 120. On the contrary, Swiss employees enjoy the highest duration of leave from work, which amounts to roughly 175 hours a year. Despite their shortest duration of work in offices (1200 hours annually), they enjoy the highest leave from the office. Moreover, English and Finnish employees work around 1,600 hours annually, and they enjoy roughly 140 hours of free time off from work. Finally, an employee in France spends 1,500 hours in the workplace, and has more than 150 hours of holidays. It is worth noting that 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 illustrate the average duration of working hours and holidays in France, the UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland.
Generally speaking, Germans work more hours annually and enjoy the least duration of holidays, while the reverse is true for working hours and holiday ratio in Switzerland.
The data in the first bar graph reveal that Germans have the highest number of office hours, around 1,900 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 worker for over 1,600 hours per year. It is around 1,500 and 1,600 for the French and the Finns, respectively.
The second bar graph shows that, despite having the highest duration of yearly working hours, Germans have the shortest duration of holidays, which is 120 hours annually. Interestingly, Swiss employees are offered the highest holiday duration in spite of their shortest 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.
Model Answer 3:
The two bar charts compare average annual working hours and the average duration of holidays for employees in five European countries: France, the UK, Finland, Germany and Switzerland.
Overall, a German employee has the longest working year but receives the shortest holiday time, whereas Switzerland showed the opposite pattern, with the fewest working hours and the most generous holidays.
Looking first at working hours, Germany topped the chart at 1,900 hours per person per year, having longer yearly working hours than the other four nations. An employee in the UK and Finland worked a similar amount, roughly 1,600 hours/year, while France followed slightly lower at around 1,500 working hours a year.
A Swiss employee had by far the lightest workload, with just 1,200 hours annually, which was 700 hours fewer than a German. A reverse pattern appears in holiday duration. Swiss workers enjoyed the highest amount of leave, at approximately 175 hours per year. France ranked second, providing just over 150 hours, whereas employees in both the UK and Finland received a similar figure of around 140 hours of annual leave. Germany, despite leading in working hours, allocated the least time off, at only about 120 hours per annum.