Writing Task 1: Pie Chart & Table: Question 9
Syllabus W.task1
The table below shows the annual output of three crops grown in the Kaldwick region, in thousands of tonnes, in 2005, 2015 and 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
| Crop | 2005 | 2015 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 420 | 380 | 310 |
| Soybeans | 150 | 260 | 410 |
| Barley | 210 | 195 | 170 |
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Task type notes
This is a trends table Task 1: three time points for three crops, where the central reportable feature is a change in ranking (soybeans overtaking wheat) rather than a static comparison. The examiner expects the intermediate 2015 figures to be used to characterise the shape of each trend (steady, sharp, gradual), not skipped in favour of only comparing the first and last years.
Why the model answer scores Band 9
Task Achievement. The overview leads with the single most significant feature: soybeans overtaking wheat as the leading crop. Each crop then gets a paragraph tracing its full three-point trajectory with accurate figures, and each includes a calculated overall change (a quarter, almost 175%, around 19%) that requires combining data rather than just reading it off. No opinion on the desirability of the shift toward soybeans is offered.
Coherence and Cohesion. Paragraphing by crop (wheat, then soybeans, then barley) rather than by year keeps each trend intact and easy to follow, with the overview at the start functioning as a roadmap for what follows.
Lexical Resource. Trend vocabulary is varied and accurate: “remained the largest,” “a steady decline,” “rose sharply,” “overtake,” “slipped only slightly,” “falling more sharply.” Precise fraction and percentage language (“just over a quarter,” “almost 175%,” “around 19%”) avoids vague comparison words.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Correct sequencing of past tenses to narrate a trend across three fixed points, accurate comparative and superlative forms (“the highest figure,” “the lowest… in every year”), and no errors in the numerical expressions.
Common pitfalls specific to this task
- Failing to notice or state the ranking change between wheat and soybeans, which is the feature most likely to be rewarded under Task Achievement.
- Describing barley’s fall as equally dramatic as wheat’s or soybeans’ change, when its overall percentage change is in fact the smallest of the three.