Pick out the main features of this bar chart for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The chart below shows the percentage of adults who named each source as their main source of news in 2005, 2015 and 2023.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | 2005 | 2015 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Television | 56% | 42% | 28% |
| Newspapers | 28% | 15% | 6% |
| Radio | 10% | 8% | 5% |
| Websites | 5% | 22% | 26% |
| Social media | 1% | 13% | 35% |
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The bar chart shows the percentage of adults who named each of five sources as their main source of news in 2005, 2015 and 2023.
Overall, traditional sources lost ground over the period, while websites and social media gained popularity. Television was the leading source in the first two years, but social media had become the most popular by 2023.
In 2005 television dominated, with 56% of adults, followed by newspapers at 28%. Websites and social media were almost insignificant, at 5% and 1% respectively. Television then fell to 42% in 2015 and 28% in 2023, half of its original share.
Newspapers declined even more sharply, from 28% to 15% in 2015 and just 6% in 2023. Radio also fell, but more gradually, from 10% in 2005 to 8% and then 5%.
Online sources moved in the opposite direction. Websites rose from 5% to 22% in 2015, and then increased more slowly to 26% in 2023. Social media showed the most remarkable growth, from 1% in 2005 to 13% in 2015 and 35% in 2023. This made it the main news source for more people than television, which stood 7 percentage points lower.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| main source of news | where people mostly get news |
| lose ground | become less popular |
| jump from X to Y | rise suddenly |
| overtake | become more than |
| traditional media | TV, radio, newspapers |
| rise to prominence | become important |
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