You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table shows the proportions of pupils attending four secondary school types between 2000 and 2009.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| School type | 2000 | 2005 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialist schools | 12% | 11% | 10% |
| Grammar schools | 24% | 19% | 12% |
| Voluntary-controlled schools | 52% | 38% | 20% |
| Community schools | 12% | 32% | 58% |
Write your own answer before reading on. Twenty minutes, timed.
Model Answer
The table illustrates the percentage of school children attending four different types of secondary school from 2000 to 2009. It is evident that the specialist, grammar and voluntary-controlled schools experienced declines in numbers of pupils, whereas the community schools became the most important providers of secondary school education during the same period.
To begin, the proportion in voluntary-controlled schools fell from just over half to only 20% or one fifth from 2000 to 2009. Similarly, the relative number of children in grammar schools — just under one quarter — dropped by half in the same period. As for the specialist schools, the relatively small percentage of pupils attending this type of school (12%) also fell, although not significantly.
However, while the other three types of school declined in importance, the opposite was true in the case of community schools. In fact, while only a small minority of 12% were educated in these schools in 2000, this figure increased to well over half of all pupils during the following nine years.
170 words.
What to notice. The overview does the grouping for you: three types down, one type up. That single sentence is what separates a Band 7 report from a list of twelve percentages, and it costs nothing to write.
Notice too how few raw figures appear. "Just over half", "one fifth", "just under one quarter", "a small minority" — the writer converts percentages into proportion language rather than transcribing the table. That is Lexical Resource being demonstrated on data, which is exactly what Task 1 rewards.
Watch the tense: past simple throughout, because the period 2000–2009 has closed. Not one present-tense verb describes the data — only the framing verbs ("the table illustrates", "it is evident") sit in the present, and those describe the table, not the years.
More worked examples in Task 1 Complete Guide and Task 1 Calibration Track.