AC-T1-002 Academic · Task 1 · beginner · 20 min · 150+ words Bar Chart Technology

Smartphone Usage by Age Group

The question

The bar chart below shows the percentage of people in six age groups who used a smartphone every day in 2023. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Daily smartphone users by age group (2023)

Instructions

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. • Begin with an overview of the main trends or differences • Compare the age groups from highest to lowest • Use appropriate vocabulary for describing data • Include figures and units to support your points

How to approach this bar chart question

A bar chart compares categories or shows change between points in time. Write an overview of the biggest differences, then compare the highest, lowest and any surprise.

Name the chart, the units and the time or places it covers in one sentence (paraphrase the question).
Write an overview: the largest and smallest categories, or the main change over time.
Group the bars into two body paragraphs by similarity, not one by one.
Quote the key numbers only, with units, and compare them.

How to plan this answer

Structure

Introduction: paraphrase the chart. It shows the share of people in six age groups who used a smartphone every day in 2023.
Overview: daily use falls steadily as age rises. Nearly everyone aged 18-24 uses one daily, while only about a third of people aged 65 and over do.
Body paragraph 1: the three youngest groups (95%, 92% and 85%), where daily use is near-universal and the drop between them is small.
Body paragraph 2: the three oldest groups (72%, 58% and 35%), where the decline is steeper, especially between 55-64 and 65+.

Key features to spot

The 18-24 group is highest at 95%, and the 65+ group is lowest at 35%, a gap of 60 percentage points.
The sharpest single fall is from 58% (55-64) to 35% (65+), a drop of 23 points.
The 35-44 group (85%) is the first to fall clearly below 90%, so the decline is gradual rather than sudden.
The chart is already ordered by age, so the 'highest to lowest' instruction means describing usage as a clear downward slope.
Figures are for daily use in 2023, so state the year once and keep the figures in percentages.

Useful vocabulary

daily smartphone users: Daily smartphone users were most common among 18-24 year olds, at 95%.
a steady decline: Usage shows a steady decline as age increases.
near-universal: Daily use in the youngest groups is near-universal.
the sharpest fall: The sharpest fall occurs between the 55-64 and 65+ groups.
stand at: Usage among people aged 65 and over stands at 35%.
percentage points: The gap between the two oldest groups is 23 percentage points.
the figure drops to: Among 55-64 year olds, the figure drops to 58%.
in contrast: In contrast, fewer than four in ten people aged 65 and over use one daily.

Common mistakes

Describing the 18-24 and 25-34 groups as using a smartphone 'all the time' or 'always', when the chart shows 95% and 92% daily use.
Calling the oldest group 'the elderly' or 'pensioners'; the chart label is '65+', so use that wording.
Listing all six figures in the overview, which leaves no room for a real summary of the trend.
Quoting the drop between 35-44 and 45-54 as large; it is 13 points, which is smaller than the 23-point drop at the end.
Forgetting the 2023 date, so the figures read as current or general.

Examiner tip: With an ordered chart, show the slope: name the highest and lowest groups in the overview, then divide the body into the younger and older halves of the scale.

Model answers by band score

Written for this question to show what changes from one band to the next. Try the task yourself first, then compare.

Band 6 answer

The bar chart show the percentage of people who used a smartphone every day in 2023, divided into six age groups. Overall, young people use smartphones more than old people. The percentage go down when the age group get older. The highest group is the 18-24 group with 95%. The 25-34 group is also very high, at 92%. After that, the 35-44 group is 85% and the 45-54 group is 72%, so these groups are still quite high but they are lower than the young groups. The older groups are much lower than the others. Only 58% of people aged 55-64 use a smartphone every day, and the lowest is the 65+ group with 35%. This is only about one third of the people in that group. So the 18-24 group is much higher than the 65+ group, about 60% more. In conclusion, age is clearly connected with daily smartphone use.

Why this is band 6

Overview is present and relevant (young people use smartphones more than old people), which keeps the answer on task.
Language is limited and repetitive: 'use a smartphone every day' and 'the ... group' recur, and linking is basic ('After that', 'So').
Noticeable errors such as 'The bar chart show' and 'The percentage go down' do not block meaning but cap grammar accuracy.
'about 60% more' is imprecise (the gap is 60 percentage points). Band 7 would use correct units and a wider range of comparison structures.

Band 7 answer

The bar chart illustrates the proportion of people in six age groups who used a smartphone daily in 2023. Overall, daily smartphone use was highest among the youngest age groups and fell steadily as age increased, with the oldest group lagging far behind the rest. Almost all young adults were daily users, and the figure stood at 95% for 18-24 year olds and 92% for those aged 25-34. The percentage then dropped to 85% among 35-44 year olds, which was still high, before falling more noticeably to 72% in the 45-54 group. The decline was noticeably sharper among older people. Just over half of those aged 55-64 (58%) used a smartphone every day, while only 35% of people aged 65 and over did so. This meant that the youngest group was nearly three times as likely to be a daily user as the oldest group, a gap of 60 percentage points, which is the largest difference in the chart.

Why this is band 7

Clear overview that identifies the trend and the outlier (the oldest group), and the report is well organised from highest to lowest.
Good range of data language: 'stood at', 'dropped to', 'falling more noticeably', 'Just over half'.
Figures are accurate and units are given, including the correct '60 percentage points'.
To reach band 8 it would group the data more selectively and use more flexible phrasing to avoid a figure-by-figure list.

Band 8 answer

The bar chart compares the percentage of people in six age groups who used a smartphone every day in 2023. Overall, daily use was near-universal among the youngest adults and declined consistently with age, with the sharpest fall occurring after the age of 54. Smartphones were an almost daily fixture for people under 35, with 95% of 18-24 year olds and 92% of 25-34 year olds using one every day. Usage was only slightly lower, at 85%, among those aged 35-44, but it then slipped to 72% in the 45-54 bracket. Beyond that point, the figures fell away rapidly. Only 58% of 55-64 year olds were daily users, and the proportion among people aged 65 and over was just 35%, barely more than a third. Put differently, the gap between the youngest and oldest groups amounted to 60 percentage points, whereas the difference between the two youngest groups was a mere three points.

Why this is band 8

Overview is precise and highlights the key pattern: near-universal use among the young and the sharpest fall after 54.
Selective, well-chosen detail: the contrast between the 60-point gap and the 3-point gap shows analysis rather than listing.
Natural cohesion ('Beyond that point', 'Put differently') and precise vocabulary ('near-universal', 'fell away rapidly').
Band 9 would be fully seamless in phrasing, with no slight wordiness, and would integrate the comparisons even more economically.

Band 9 answer

The bar chart shows what proportion of people in six age groups used a smartphone every day in 2023. Overall, daily use was close to universal among young adults and fell progressively with age, the steepest decline coming after the age of 54. Among the two youngest groups, usage was almost saturated, at 95% for 18-24 year olds and 92% for those aged 25-34. The figure eased to 85% in the 35-44 bracket and then to 72% for 45-54 year olds, so that even in middle age a clear majority were daily users. By contrast, smartphones were far less embedded in the lives of older people. Fewer than six in ten 55-64 year olds (58%) used one daily, and among those aged 65 and over the figure dropped to 35%, barely a third. The disparity between the oldest and youngest groups therefore reached 60 percentage points, nearly four times the three-point gap separating the two youngest groups' figures.

Why this is band 9

Fully natural, economical overview that captures both the trend and where the decline is steepest.
Every figure is accurate and the comparisons ('six in ten', 'barely a third', 60 versus 3 points) are interpreted, not just reported.
Sophisticated yet precise vocabulary ('saturated', 'eased', 'embedded', 'disparity') used without strain.
Cohesion is seamless and the text is essentially error-free, with every paragraph having a clear, distinct purpose.

Band levels are our estimate against the public IELTS criteria; they are not official scores.

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