Task 1 Academic · Bar chart · Environment
Household recycling rates in four cities
A two-year bar chart in which the worst performer becomes the best, and three answers that differ in whether they measure that reversal against everything else on the chart.
The question
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
The chart below shows the percentage of household waste that was recycled in four cities in 2010 and 2025.
| City | 2010 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Arlen | 42 | 45 |
| Brinmoor | 18 | 51 |
| Castow | 30 | 38 |
| Dunhaven | 25 | 24 |
A 150-word factual summary of a graph, chart, table, process or map. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.
What separates the three answers
Brinmoor's 33-point rise is more than three times the net change of the other three cities combined; the 6.5 answer reports it as one rise among several, the 7.5 sees the reversal, and the 9 measures it.
The three answers
Band 6.5
163 words (the task asks for at least 150)The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.
The answer
The bar chart shows the percentage of the household waste which was recycled in four different cities in 2010 and in 2025.
In 2010, Arlen had the highest rate with 42 per cent. Castow was the second with 30 per cent, Dunhaven was 25 per cent and Brinmoor was the lowest with only 18 per cent. This means that Arlen recycled more than two times as much as Brinmoor in this year.
In 2025, the rates increased in most of the cities.3 Brinmoor increased very much to 51 per cent and it became the highest city.4 Arlen increased to 45 per cent and Castow increased to 38 per cent, so Castow was still in the middle. However, Dunhaven decreased from 25 per cent to 24 per cent, so it was the lowest city in 2025.
Overall, the recycling increased in three cities but decreased in one city.1 Brinmoor have the biggest change in the period5, which is an increase of 33 per cent2.
What an examiner notices
1. Task achievement
“Overall, the recycling increased in three cities but decreased in one city.”
True, and almost beside the point. The chart's story is that the last-placed city finished first; an overview that counts arrows up and down misses it.
2. Task achievement
“which is an increase of 33 per cent”
Brinmoor rose from 18 per cent to 51 — a rise of 33 percentage points, which is an increase of about 183 per cent. Points and per cent are not interchangeable.
3. Coherence and cohesion
“In 2025, the rates increased in most of the cities.”
Organising by year means each city's 2010 and 2025 values sit in different paragraphs, so no single change is ever described in one place.
4. Lexical resource
“Brinmoor increased very much to 51 per cent and it became the highest city.”
The city, not its recycling rate, is made to increase, and 'very much' is the only measure offered for the biggest movement on the chart.
5. Grammatical range and accuracy
“Brinmoor have the biggest change in the period”
A singular proper noun with a plural verb, in a sentence that also slips from past to present tense.
One honest caveat
Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.
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