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Cambridge 19 Writing Task 1 Test 1 - Sample Answers (Band 9 to 4-5)
Real band 9, 8, 7 and 6.5 sample answers for this prompt, plus a genuine band 4-5 answer so you can see exactly what pulls a score down. Every sample comes with examiner-style notes on Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range & Accuracy.
The Prompt
Activities at a Social Centre in Melbourne (2000-2020)
The graph below gives information on the numbers of participants for different activities at one social centre in Melbourne, Australia for the period 2000 to 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The Data
Number of participants by activity - Melbourne social centre (2000-2020)
Film club: 60 (2000) → 130 (2010, peak) → 70 (2020)
Martial arts: 50 (2000) → 80 (2010) → 120 (2020)
Amateur dramatics: 80 (2000) → 50 (2010) → 30 (2020)
Table tennis: 30 (2000) → 55 (2010) → 90 (2020)
Musical performances: 20 (2000) → 45 (2010) → 80 (2020)
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176 wordsGroups the five activities into three distinct pattern types rather than describing each one's figures in isolation.
The table shows the number of participants in five different activities at a social centre in Melbourne, Australia, between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, three activities, martial arts, table tennis, and musical performances, saw sustained growth throughout the period, while amateur dramatics declined steadily and film club followed a distinctive rise-then-fall pattern, peaking mid-period before declining again.
Film club participation rose from 60 in 2000 to a peak of 130 in 2010, before falling back to 70 by 2020, ending only slightly higher than where it started. Amateur dramatics, in contrast, declined consistently throughout, from 80 participants in 2000 to just 30 by 2020, making it the only activity to fall in every single period.
Martial arts, table tennis, and musical performances all grew consistently and substantially over the full twenty years. Martial arts more than doubled, from 50 to 120, while table tennis tripled, from 30 to 90, and musical performances quadrupled, from 20 to 80, the largest proportional increase of any activity shown, though it remained the smallest activity in absolute terms throughout the period.
Examiner Notes
Task Achievement: Accurately covers all five activities with a precise overview identifying the three distinct growth patterns (sustained growth, steady decline, rise-then-fall).
Coherence & Cohesion: A clear overview precedes detail grouped by pattern type, with cohesive devices ("in contrast", "though") linking figures naturally.
Lexical Resource: Precise, varied language ("quadrupled", "proportional increase", "sustained growth") used accurately throughout.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Wide range of accurate structures, including comparatives, used with full control.
Band 8
160 wordsAccurate and clearly organised, just slightly less varied in its vocabulary than a band 9 answer.
The table shows the number of participants in five activities at a social centre in Melbourne between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, three activities, martial arts, table tennis, and musical performances, grew steadily throughout the period, while amateur dramatics declined the whole time and film club rose then fell.
Film club participation rose from 60 in 2000 to a peak of 130 in 2010, then fell back to 70 by 2020. Amateur dramatics fell the whole time, from 80 participants in 2000 to just 30 by 2020.
Martial arts, table tennis, and musical performances all grew steadily over the twenty years. Martial arts more than doubled, from 50 to 120, table tennis tripled, from 30 to 90, and musical performances grew the most in percentage terms, from 20 to 80, though it stayed the smallest activity overall. This pattern suggests a broad shift in interest away from the more traditional activity of amateur dramatics towards more physically active or performance-based pursuits.
Examiner Notes
Task Achievement: Covers all five activities accurately with a clear overview grouping them by trend, though described a little more simply than in the band 9 answer.
Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised with an overview followed by detail grouped by trend; cohesive devices are accurate throughout.
Lexical Resource: Good range of vocabulary for describing trends, though slightly less varied than the higher-band answer's phrasing.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Accurate throughout, with a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures.
Band 7
155 wordsAll figures are correct, but the three distinct trend patterns are only loosely implied rather than clearly grouped.
The table shows the number of people taking part in five activities at a social centre in Melbourne from 2000 to 2020.
Overall, most activities increased over the period, but amateur dramatics decreased, and film club went up and then down.
Film club went from 60 to a high of 130 in 2010, then dropped to 70 by 2020. Amateur dramatics went down the whole time, from 80 to 30.
Martial arts, table tennis, and musical performances all went up steadily. Martial arts went from 50 to 120, table tennis went from 30 to 90, and musical performances went from 20 to 80. This suggests that participants at the social centre became increasingly interested in these three activities over the twenty years, while interest in more traditional activities such as amateur dramatics fell steadily during the same period. Overall, the data indicates a clear shift in preference away from traditional pastimes toward these newer activities.
Examiner Notes
Task Achievement: Reports all five activities accurately with a basic overview, but the overview does not clearly group them by trend type the way the higher-band answers do.
Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised chronologically, though figures are listed with fairly plain connecting language throughout.
Lexical Resource: Adequate range for the task; figures are accurate but connecting language stays fairly plain throughout.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Generally accurate, mostly simple sentence structures; meaning is always clear.
Band 6.5
155 wordsThe figures are all correct, but agreement errors appear in almost every sentence.
The table show the number of people taking part in five activity at a social centre in Melbourne from 2000 to 2020.
Overall, most activity increase over the period, but amateur dramatics decrease, and film club go up and then down.
Film club go from 60 to a high of 130 in 2010, then drop to 70 by 2020. Amateur dramatics go down the whole time, from 80 to 30.
Martial arts, table tennis, and musical performance all go up steadily. Martial arts go from 50 to 120, table tennis go from 30 to 90, and musical performance go from 20 to 80. This suggest that participant at the social centre become increasingly interested in this three activity over the twenty year, while interest in more traditional activity such as amateur dramatics fell steadily during the same period. Overall, the data indicate a clear shift in preference away from traditional pastime toward this newer activity.
Examiner Notes
Task Achievement: Reports all five activities accurately, matching the content of the band 7 answer.
Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised chronologically, following the same structure as the higher-band answers.
Lexical Resource: Limited by "activity" and "performance" being used without their plural forms throughout.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Frequent subject-verb agreement errors ("table show", "activity increase", "film club go") appear in nearly every sentence.
Band 4-5 - What to Avoid
30 wordsNo exact figures appear anywhere in the report, and three of the five activities are never mentioned.
This table show activity at social centre.
Some activity is popular, this is good for people I think.
Martial art is nice hobby, this is my opinion about this table.
Examiner Notes
Task Achievement: No exact figures are given for any activity or year, three of the five activities are never mentioned at all, and a personal opinion is inserted, which has no place in a Task 1 report. At well under 150 words, the response is also underlength.
Coherence & Cohesion: Reads as three short, disconnected remarks rather than an organised comparison across all five activities.
Lexical Resource: Vague, repetitive vocabulary ("is popular", "nice hobby") used instead of the specific figures given in the table.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Frequent errors throughout ("this table show", "martial art is nice hobby").
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Sign Up Free →These sample answers are written independently for Prep IELTS Now to illustrate real band-score differences. They are a study aid, not official Cambridge or IELTS material.