Task 1 Academic · Table · Environment
Household waste and recycling in five cities
Five cities, two measures and two years: every recycling rate rose, but only two cities really moved, and the early leader ended up third.
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 table below shows the amount of household waste produced per resident and the percentage of that waste which was recycled in five cities in one country in 2015 and 2025.
| City | Waste per resident 2015 (kg) | Waste per resident 2025 (kg) | Recycled 2015 (%) | Recycled 2025 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldmere | 520 | 470 | 31 | 52 |
| Brenhurst | 410 | 430 | 44 | 47 |
| Corvick | 610 | 640 | 18 | 22 |
| Dunmoor | 450 | 455 | 38 | 61 |
| Estrand | 390 | 360 | 46 | 49 |
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
Every recycling rate went up, which is exactly why 'all the cities recycled more' says nothing. The 6.5 answer stops there; the band 9 answer sees that two cities rose by over twenty points while three managed four or fewer.
The three answers
Band 6.5
183 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 table shows how much household waste was produced by each resident in five cities and the percentage of this waste that was recycled in 2015 and 2025.
In 2015, Corvick produced the most waste with 610 kg per resident, and Aldmere was second with 520 kg. Dunmoor produced 450 kg, Brenhurst 410 kg and Estrand produced the least with 390 kg. In 2025 the waste increased in Corvick to 640 kg, in Brenhurst to 430 kg and in Dunmoor to 455 kg, but it decreased in Aldmere to 470 kg and Estrand to 360 kg.
For recycling, in 2015 Estrand had the highest rate with 46 per cent and Corvick had the lowest with only 18 per cent. The other cities was between 31 and 44 per cent.3 In 2025 all the cities recycled more.2 Dunmoor increased to 61 per cent and Aldmere increased to 52 per cent, Estrand to 49 per cent1, Brenhurst to 47 per cent and Corvick to 22 per cent.
Overall, the recycling increased in all the cities and Corvick was the worst city in the both years4.
What an examiner notices
1. Task achievement
“Dunmoor increased to 61 per cent and Aldmere increased to 52 per cent, Estrand to 49 per cent”
Rises of 23, 21 and 3 points are placed in one list with no distinction between them. The difference in size is the whole story of the table.
2. Task achievement
“In 2025 all the cities recycled more.”
True, and therefore uninformative. When every row moves the same way, the task is to say how differently they moved.
3. Grammatical range and accuracy
“The other cities was between 31 and 44 per cent.”
Subject–verb agreement slips with a plural subject, and the three cities are grouped only to avoid giving their figures.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“in the both years”
'Both' does not take a preceding article. A small error, but it falls in the overview.
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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