189 words, written by us as a teaching example — not a verified exam script. Read it, then attempt the question yourself.
“The bar chart shows the female labour force participation rate in four countries in 2010 and 2020.”Model answer
189 wordsP1The bar chart compares female labour force participation rates in four countries in 2010 and 2020.
P2Overall, Sweden had the highest participation rate in both years, while Italy recorded the lowest. All four countries showed an increase over the decade, though the magnitude of change differed considerably.
P3In 2010, Sweden led at 58.98%, closely followed by the USA at 57.52%. Japan and Italy trailed with figures of 48.34% and 37.88% respectively. By 2020, Sweden had risen modestly to 60.59%, while Japan recorded the largest increase of the group, climbing from 48.34% to 53.09%, a rise of nearly five percentage points. This gain allowed Japan to narrow the gap with the USA, which actually fell slightly from 57.52% to 55.7% over the same period.
P4Italy remained at the bottom throughout, inching up from 37.88% to 39.5%. The gap between Italy and Sweden widened marginally, from around 21 percentage points in 2010 to just over 21 percentage points in 2020. Japan's notable rise stands out as the most significant change, while the USA's slight decline was the only case where participation moved in the opposite direction to the general upward trend.
Write your answer in the exam workspace and see how your four marks compare to the model’s.
Effective use of comparison language: 'closely followed by', 'trailed', 'narrow the gap', 'inching up'.
Now you
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Write it nowCriterion breakdown
What keeps it from higher
Could note the Italy-to-Japan gap in absolute terms to provide one more cross-country comparison.