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Simone Braverman

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and the author of several renowned IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005, Simone has been committed to making IELTS preparation accessible and effective through her books and online resources. Her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.

IELTS Report, topic: Two bar graphs showing how often people exercised in Europe in 2016

This is a model answer for an Academic Writing Task 1 from the IELTS exam in Taiwan, shared yesterday. This response is likely to get Band 8 or 8.5 in IELTS.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task

The graphs below show how often people exercised in Europe in 2016, by age group and gender. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Graph Men

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Graph Women

Band 8.5 Model Answer

The bar graphs describe the frequency with which men and women in Europe engaged in physical activity in 2016. The participants are split into 4 age groups (15-24, 25-30, 40-54 and 55+ years old) and the data is presented in percentages.

It can be clearly seen that for both men and women regularity of exercise dropped with age, and the percentage of people who never engaged in physical activity increased, peaking in the oldest age group.

Taking a closer look at men, the highest percentage (60%) of the youngest men aged 15-24 exercised semi-regularly and the rest were split into almost equal shares, with 12% exercising regularly, 13% seldom and 15% never. In the other age groups, regular exercise was the least common at roughly 7%. Exercising semi-regularly was the dominant proportion in the 25-39 year old group at 43%, and the shares of people who seldom or never exercised were quite close at 20% and 27% respectively. Most of the 40-54 year olds either exercised semi-regularly (36%) or not at all (39%). In the oldest age group only 21% exercised semi-regularly and the vast majority (nearly 60%) didn’t train at all.

Compared to men, women engaged in physical activity less, with only about 37% of the youngest age group doing semi-regular exercise and 27% avoiding physical activity. It was rare for women of all ages to exercise regularly, as only 2%-4% did it. In the 25-39 year old cohort the proportions of women doing sports semi-regularly and never were very close, at 37% and 45% respectively. Half of the 45-54 year olds never exercised and only 26% trained semi-regularly. The 55+ year old women were most likely to never exercise (63%) and just about 18% being physically active semi-regularly.

Click here to see more IELTS reports of band 8

IELTS test in Taiwan – October 2022 (Academic Module)

Our kind friend I.L. took IELTS in Taiwan very recently and remembered the following questions:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

The graphs below show how often people exercised in Europe in 2016, by age group and gender.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Graph Men

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Graph Women

* Note: these are not the actual graphs that were given in the test, they were recreated for demonstration purposes.

Read a model answer here

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some people believe that the best way to solve environmental problems is to increase the price of fuel. Do you agree or disagree?

Read a model answer here

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?
– Tell me about where you live.
– What is the weather like in your city?
– Do you like the city you live in? Why/why not?
– Why do you like the place where you live?
– What do you usually do in the evening?
– How often do you use social media? Why?
– Do you help with some house chores? What kind of chores?
– What is your least favourite type of housework? Why?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe a friend from your childhood. You should say

– who this person is
– when you met
– what you did together
– and explain why this person was important to you.

Follow-up question: Do you still meet with your childhood friend now? Why/why not?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Let’s talk about friendship.
– What are the benefits of having a childhood friend?
– Do you think is it important to keep childhood friends?
– What do you think is better for teenagers, to connect with friends online or to meet in person?
– Why do people lose their childhood friends?