Task 1 Academic · Mixed charts · Transport
How people commute, and why they say they do
Two datasets in one task — modal share over twenty years and the reasons commuters give — and three answers that differ in whether they ever connect the two.
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 charts below show the percentage of commuters using four modes of transport in one country in 2005, 2015 and 2025, and the main reason given by users of each mode in 2025.
| Mode | 2005 share (%) | 2015 share (%) | 2025 share (%) | Main reason given in 2025 | Users giving it (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car | 62 | 55 | 41 | Convenience | 58 |
| Bus | 18 | 17 | 21 | Low cost | 61 |
| Train | 12 | 18 | 26 | Speed | 47 |
| Bicycle | 8 | 10 | 12 | Health benefits | 52 |
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
A mixed task is a single question, not two; the 6.5 answer writes two unconnected reports and the band 9 answer uses the second dataset to explain the first.
The three answers
Band 6.5
185 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 gives information about the percentage of commuters who used four different transports4 in 2005, 2015 and 2025, and the main reason they chose it.
In 2005, the car was the most popular transport with 62 per cent of the commuters3. The bus was 18 per cent, the train 12 per cent and the bicycle only 8 per cent. In 2015 the car decreased to 55 per cent, the train increased to 18 per cent, the bus decreased a little to 17 per cent and the bicycle increased to 10 per cent.
In 2025 the car decreased again to 41 per cent, but it was still the most popular. The train increased to 26 per cent, the bus to 21 per cent and the bicycle to 12 per cent.
About the reasons, 58 per cent of the car users said the convenience, 61 per cent of the bus users said the low cost1, 47 per cent of the train users said the speed and 52 per cent of the bicycle users said the health benefits. Overall, the car decreased but the other transports increased.2
What an examiner notices
1. Task achievement
“About the reasons, 58 per cent of the car users said the convenience, 61 per cent of the bus users said the low cost”
The entire second dataset in one sentence, listed rather than used. Nothing here is linked to the fall in car use described two paragraphs earlier.
2. Task achievement
“Overall, the car decreased but the other transports increased.”
An overview covering half the task. A mixed-chart overview should say something about both datasets and, ideally, about the relationship between them.
3. Lexical resource
“the car was the most popular transport with 62 per cent of the commuters”
A mode is not a percentage. 'Accounted for' or 'was used by' would fix it, and the same conflation runs through the whole answer.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“four different transports”
'Transport' is uncountable in this sense; the plural marks it out immediately. 'Four modes of transport' is the standard phrase.
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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