The column graph shows the percentage of males in a particular country who prefer watching sports to males who prefer participating in sports.

Males Watching vs Participating Sports Country Bar Chart - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

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

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 9 · 184 words.

The bar chart illustrates the percentages of males who either watch or participate in six sports in a specific country. The data is presented in percentage terms.

Overall, there is a clear contrast between passive and active involvement, as watching is generally more common than participating. However, fishing shows the opposite trend, with a notably higher level of participation.

Looking first at viewing figures, football dominates, with 40% of men preferring to watch it. Basketball and horse riding and racing are equally popular, each attracting about 36% of viewers. Rugby is watched by around 27% of males, while badminton has a slightly smaller audience at approximately 26%. Fishing again records the lowest figure, at just 13%.

In comparison, participation patterns differ considerably. Fishing is by far the most actively pursued sport, involving half of the male population. Basketball and badminton are next, both at roughly a quarter. Rugby and horse riding and racing have moderate participation levels of about 20% each. Football ranks last in this category, with only 11% of men taking part, indicating a strong preference for watching rather than playing it.

Examiner feedback

This is a model Band 9 response. It provides a clear, high-level overview and supports it with accurate data comparisons while maintaining a sophisticated and natural academic tone.

Task Achievement - 9

- The response fully satisfies all requirements of the task by accurately describing the data for all six sports categories. - The overview is sophisticated, identifying both the general trend (watching is more common) and the significant exception (fishing). - Data selection is expert; it highlights key points such as the dominance of football in viewing and the popularity of fishing in participation.

Coherence & Cohesion - 9

- Paragraphing is logically managed, with one paragraph dedicated to viewing figures and another to participation, allowing for clear comparative analysis. - The message is followed effortlessly through the use of effective transition signals like 'In comparison' and 'Looking first at'. - Cohesion is seamless, with excellent use of referencing (e.g., 'this category', 'the opposite trend') which avoids repetitive sentence structures.

Lexical Resource - 9

- The response demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary used with precision, such as 'passive and active involvement', 'dominates', and 'actively pursued'. - Collocations are natural and sophisticated (e.g., 'notably higher level', 'ranks last', 'equally popular'). - There are no spelling or word formation errors, showing full control of lexical features.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 9

- A wide range of complex structures is used with full flexibility, including participle phrases ('attracting about 36%') and contrastive clauses. - Grammar and punctuation are flawless throughout the entire response. - The variety of sentence types ensures the report reads naturally and with academic weight.

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