Task 1 Academic · Line graph · Culture
Visits to libraries, museums and cinemas
A line graph with a genuine reversal in it, showing how a strong overview does more for the score than any amount of extra data.
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 number of visits made to three types of cultural venue in one country between 2000 and 2020.
| Year | Public libraries | Museums and galleries | Cinemas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 340 | 95 | 140 |
| 2005 | 300 | 110 | 165 |
| 2010 | 250 | 135 | 172 |
| 2015 | 185 | 158 | 168 |
| 2020 | 120 | 150 | 95 |
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
The 6.5 reports every number in the table and works out nothing; the 9 states the reversal in its second sentence and then uses the numbers to prove it.
The three answers
Band 6.5
187 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 gives information about the number of the visitors in three different cultural places in one country from the year 2000 to the year 2020.
In 2000, the public libraries was the most popular place4 with 340 million visits, and the museums and galleries was the least popular with only 95 million visits. After that, the number of visitors to libraries decreased continuously to 300 million in 2005, 250 million in 2010, 185 million in 2015 and finally 120 million in 20201.
On the other hand, the museums and galleries increased3 from 95 million to 110 million in 2005 and to 135 million in 2010, and after that it continued to increase until 158 million in 2015. But in 2020 it decreased a little to 150 million. The cinemas also increased from 140 million in 2000 to 165 million in 2005 and 172 million in 2010, then it stayed almost same until 2015, and in 2020 it dropped sharply to 95 million.
Overall, the libraries decreased in all the period, but the museums increased2, and the cinema had a big decrease in the last year.
What an examiner notices
1. Task achievement
“decreased continuously to 300 million in 2005, 250 million in 2010, 185 million in 2015 and finally 120 million in 2020”
Four data points where one start figure, one end figure and the overall proportion would say more. Listing the table back is the commonest reason a competent Task 1 answer stalls at 6.
2. Task achievement
“Overall, the libraries decreased in all the period, but the museums increased”
The overview names the directions but misses the event: by 2020 the least-visited venue of 2000 has become the most visited. That is the answer to 'main features'.
3. Coherence and cohesion
“On the other hand, the museums and galleries increased”
'On the other hand' promises a contrast and delivers a change of subject. The two venues are described in sequence, never against each other.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“the public libraries was the most popular place”
Plural subject, singular verb — and the same slip recurs with 'the museums and galleries was'. Repeated agreement errors of this kind are a defining feature of the band.
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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