Task 1 Academic · Line graph · Consumer
How shoppers paid over twenty years
Four payment methods over twenty years: cash collapses, debit cards rise and then turn, and mobile phones arrive from nowhere — a graph where the interesting line is the one that changes direction.
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 graph below shows the proportion of in-store purchases paid for by four different methods in one country between 2005 and 2025.
| Year | Cash | Debit card | Credit card | Mobile phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 64 | 24 | 12 | 0 |
| 2010 | 55 | 31 | 13 | 1 |
| 2015 | 41 | 42 | 13 | 4 |
| 2020 | 22 | 51 | 12 | 15 |
| 2025 | 12 | 44 | 13 | 31 |
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
Debit cards win the contest with cash and then start losing a new one; the 6.5 answer reports the turn, the 7.5 misreads where mobile's gains came from, and the band 9 answer accounts for every point.
The three answers
Band 6.5
186 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 line graph shows the percentage of shop purchases which was paid by cash4, debit card, credit card and mobile phone from 2005 to 2025.
In 2005, cash was the most popular method with 64 per cent. It decreased to 55 per cent in 2010, 41 per cent in 2015 and 22 per cent in 20203, and in 2025 it was only 12 per cent. Debit card was 24 per cent in 2005 and it increased to 31 per cent in 2010 and 42 per cent in 2015, so it was more than cash in this year2. It increased again to 51 per cent in 2020 but then it decreased to 44 per cent in 2025.
Credit card was 12 per cent in 2005 and it stayed nearly the same in all the period, between 12 and 13 per cent. Mobile phone was not used in 2005, but it increased to 1 per cent in 2010, 4 per cent in 2015, 15 per cent in 2020 and 31 per cent in 2025.
Overall, cash decreased a lot and the other methods increased, especially the mobile phone.1
What an examiner notices
1. Task achievement
“Overall, cash decreased a lot and the other methods increased, especially the mobile phone.”
Debit cards fell after 2020 and credit cards hardly changed, so 'the other methods increased' is inaccurate for two of the three. The overview misses the graph's most interesting line.
2. Coherence and cohesion
“so it was more than cash in this year”
The crossing of the two main lines is mentioned only as an aside, and 'this year' makes the reader look back for the date.
3. Lexical resource
“It decreased to 55 per cent in 2010, 41 per cent in 2015 and 22 per cent in 2020”
Every data point is given, with one verb for all of them. 'Fell steadily' plus the start and end values would say more in fewer words.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“shop purchases which was paid by cash”
The relative clause agrees with the wrong noun, and 'paid' needs 'for' when the object is the thing bought.
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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