Drawing bar charts from data tables, choosing appropriate scales and labelling axes correctly.
Where your child meets this in real life: Presenting data for projects, creating visual comparisons
Each SEAG paper has 28 maths questions. Questions 29 to 50 are multiple choice with five possible answers, and questions 51 to 56 need a short written answer. With 56 questions in 60 minutes across English and maths, that is about a minute per question.
SEAGReady breaks draw bar charts into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Draw accurate bars on pre-prepared axes with a given scale
Select a suitable scale for given data and set up the axis markings
Draw a complete bar chart including title, axis labels, and accurate bars
Try three free questions from our draw bar charts course. They start easy and get harder, so you can see where your child's confidence runs out. If they manage the last one without a hint, this topic is probably secure. If not, the steps above show where to start.
Alice surveyed her class about favourite colours. The results were: Red = 6, Blue = 10, Green = 4. The scale is 1 square = 2. How many squares high should the Blue bar be?
The table shows cars counted at four times. The bar-chart grid is 10 squares high. What is the most sensible scale?
The chart shows visitor numbers by season, but the numbers and purpose are unclear. Which three things should be checked?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Emily surveyed her class about favourite pets. The results were: Cat = 8, Dog = 12, Fish = 4, Rabbit = 6.
Draw bars on the axes provided. The scale is 1 square = 2 animals.
Each square represents 2 animals
Step 1 of 4
Emily surveyed her class about favourite pets. The results were: Cat = 8, Dog = 12, Fish = 4, Rabbit = 6.
Draw bars on the axes provided. The scale is 1 square = 2 animals.
The bars show Cat at 8, Dog at 12, Fish at 4, and Rabbit at 6.
The key insight: Divide each value by the scale to find how many squares tall each bar should be!
Common mix-up: Drawing Cat bar at 8 squares high. You must divide by the scale value, not use the data value as the bar height.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in draw bar charts, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with draw bar charts? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
Sitting the SEAG test this November? Read our last-month revision plan, Paper 1 vs Paper 2 and test day guide.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
Free to start · no card needed