Band 7
A real candidate answer at Band 7, with every examiner correction marked on it. 12 corrections.
A Band 7 answer is a competent answer. The corrections here are fewer and finer, and several are matters of precision rather than accuracy.
Reading a 7 alongside a 5 is the fastest way to see what the extra two bands actually consist of, and it is rarely what candidates expect.
Click any highlighted word to see the correction. The commentary at the foot of the page explains what holds the answer at this band overall.
The task
The chart this describes is noted below.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table shows the amount of coal used by different sectors in the UK.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The original chart for this task is not currently shown. The answer below describes the data in full, so the report still reads correctly without it.
The answer
Reproduced exactly as written, errors included.
The table gives data about the quantity of coal used by 5 sectors in the UK within a period of 25 years; in addition, the level of consumption is illustrated.
From 1975 to 1985, the largest amount consumed was by stations and energy industries, whereas other sectors used considerably less. To illustrate, used 7.2 million of tonnes from 1975 to 1985, but for the same period of time were tonnes. It was striking the fact that in 1985 Power stations used more than three quarters of the total quantity.
In the following decade from 1990 to 2000, of coal decreased in all sectors. However, power stations remained the highest user of coal, followed by other energy industries which utilized significantly less compared to power stations and over three times than they did in 1975.
Overall, the trend of coal consumption experienced for all sectors with one exception in 1980 when power stations increased just under 10%. Domestic consumption levelled off in 1990 and 1995 other energy industries reached a plateau in 1995 and 2000.
(182 words)
Examiner comments
The overall verdict, criterion by criterion.
The structure of the report is logical and clear, and a description of all the main trends is included.
However, there are some errors in the data (and over three times more than they did in 1975), and some of the language used is a little informal ('than they did').
There are also slight errors in the use of linking words (in addition / meanwhile). In addition, the data is presented in a very specific manner to it would be better to use a range of expressions rather than simply the numbers.
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