Academic IELTS Task 1 Essay: Bar Chart

This is a high-scoring sample answer for the following Academic IELTS Task 1 essay question The bar graph shows the global sales (in billions of dollars) of different types of digital games between 2000 and 2006. Collocations about technology can be found here. Below, also, is a list of less common vocabulary with definitions. Read the sample answer, then send me your essay in the comments. I will give you a quick score and also some comments if I have time. Why not start today?

Academic IELTS Task 1 Essay Sample Answer

The bar graph shows the global sales (in billions of dollars) of different types of digital games between 2000 and 2006. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart depicts how many billions of dollars of sales four kinds of electronic games generated from 2000 to 2006.

Overall, it is clear from the chart that handheld games had the highest sales figures by far and increased over the period, as did mobile phone games and online games. Sales of console games, on the other hand, decreased steadily over the six years.

In the year 2000, there were no online games or games played on mobile phones, but starting at around 11 billion dollars, almost double that of console games, handheld games increased over the period to around 18 billion dollars in 2006, with sales of console games having steadily declined to about 2.5 billion.

Mobile phone games were introduced in 2001, and online ones in 2002 with sales being equal at about one billion dollars in that year. Up to 2005, they both had similar sales figures with those for mobile games being slightly higher in some years. In 2006, however, online games surged ahead with sales of approximately nine billion, while mobile ones sold about seven billion dollars’ worth.

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