IELTS Academic Writing Task 1/ Graph Writing – Pie Chart:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pie graphs below show the results of a survey of children’s activities. The first graph shows the cultural and leisure activities that boys participate in, whereas the second graph shows the activities in which girls participate.
Write a report for a university lecturer and report the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Model Answer 1 [Band 9 sample]:
The pair of pie charts shows the results of a survey that compares the proportions of boys and girls who participate in six different cultural and leisure activities.
Overall, the survey results highlight distinct patterns in leisure activities between boys and girls: boys gravitate towards gaming and mainstream ball sports, whereas girls are more inclined towards expressive activities such as dancing and reading, though both groups enjoy music to a similar extent.
Looking at the data in detail, playing computer games is the most popular activity among boys, accounting for 34% of their total leisure choices, whereas only 16% of girls prefer to play games on their computers. In contrast, dancing is significantly more popular among girls, as 27% of them participate in it. For boys, on the contrary, dancing does not appear as an option. Reading shows an even starker contrast, with 21% of girls regularly reading compared with a mere 2% of boys.
In terms of sports, boys show a clear preference for basketball and soccer, at 26% and 17% respectively, while girls most commonly take part in netball (15%) and gymnastics (11%). Boys also report some interest in skateboarding (11%), a category that is absent from the girls’ chart. Meanwhile, listening to music occupies an identical share (10%) in both boys’ and girls’ leisure activities, indicating a shared interest across genders.
Sample Answer 2:
The pie charts enumerate a survey result which compares the type of cultural and free-time activities boys and girls like to participate in. At first glance, boys generally prefer computer games and outdoor sports, while girls mostly participate in activities like dancing, gymnastics and reading.
As is presented in the diagrams, more than one-third of boys play computer games, while one-quarter play basketball in their free time, according to the survey results. Moreover, nearly one in five boys plays soccer and one-tenth of them like to do skateboarding. It is prevalent from the illustration that boys mostly play games and take part in outdoor sports. The reading habit among boys is very poor, as only 2% of them read as a leisure activity.
Moving to the girls’ leisure activities, playing computer games is not as popular among girls as it is among boys. The most popular pursuits among girls are dancing (27% pick this up) and reading (more than one-fifth of girls are active readers). Among outdoor sports and activities, gymnastics and netball are common among girls, as 11% and 15% respectively participate in these two outdoor activities. Interestingly, listening to music is an activity which is enjoyed by an equal percentage (10%) of boys and girls.
Good support.