Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the number of cinema admissions (in millions) in three countries between 2005 and 2022.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| 2005 | 2008 | 2011 | 2014 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 175 | 190 | 217 | 209 | 209 | 213 | 65 | 96 | 152 |
| Japan | 160 | 155 | 145 | 161 | 174 | 195 | 106 | 115 | 152 |
| South Korea | 145 | 151 | 160 | 215 | 220 | 227 | 60 | 61 | 113 |
Write at least 150 words.
Task 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people believe that space exploration is a worthwhile use of public money because of the knowledge and technologies it produces. Others argue that governments should direct these funds towards urgent problems on Earth, such as poverty, disease and climate change.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
What a Band 8–9 response must demonstrate
Measured against the four official assessment criteria — specific to this test's two tasks.
Task Achievement
- Gives a clear overview that captures the shape of the period: admissions in all three countries were broadly rising or stable up to 2019, collapsed in 2020, and then recovered only partially by 2022 — with no country regaining its 2019 level.
- Identifies South Korea as the divergent case: the steepest rise (145 to 227 million) but also the deepest fall (to 60 million) and the weakest recovery (113 million, roughly half of its peak), while Japan fell before 2011 when the others rose.
- Supports every main feature with accurate figures and uses them to compare across countries at the same point in time (e.g. 2019: South Korea 227, France 213, Japan 195; 2022: France and Japan level at 152).
- Stays purely descriptive: no speculation about pandemics, streaming services or ticket prices.
Coherence & Cohesion
- Organises by phase rather than by country — typically one body paragraph on 2005–2019 and one on 2020–2022 — so that comparisons sit naturally inside each paragraph.
- Uses referencing ("the former", "all three", "the same year", "this figure") to avoid repeating country names in every clause.
- Cohesive devices signal contrast and sequence where they do work ("whereas", "by contrast", "thereafter", "having peaked") rather than beginning every sentence with "Then" or "Next".
Lexical Resource
- Uses trend language of the right strength: admissions edged up, climbed steeply, plunged/collapsed, rebounded, recovered to roughly two-thirds of.
- Varies the noun phrases for the data: admissions, attendances, ticket sales, cinema-goers, the figure for France — without inventing data that is not shown (e.g. revenue).
- Handles quantities precisely: "just over 200 million", "a little under half its 2019 level", "a threefold difference".
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
- Controls a range of structures: participle openings ("Having risen steadily to 227 million in 2019, Korean admissions…"), comparatives ("more than twice as many as"), and complex sentences with "while/whereas/although".
- Uses past tenses consistently for the dated period, with "by 2022" and "between 2005 and 2011" time expressions handled accurately.
- Punctuates figures and units correctly (152 million, not "152 millions"); the majority of sentences are error-free.
Task Response
- Addresses both views fully: the case that exploration yields knowledge and spin-off technology and the case that the same money would relieve poverty, disease or climate damage more directly.
- States a clear personal position in the introduction and sustains it; a Band 8+ answer usually takes a qualified stance (e.g. support for exploration on condition of cost-control or international sharing) rather than a flat yes or no.
- Develops each view with specific illustration — satellite weather and climate data, GPS, medical imaging, or the cost of a single mission compared with a vaccination programme — rather than vague references to "technology" and "problems".
- Engages with the public money framing: the question is about how taxpayers' funds should be prioritised, not whether space is interesting.
Coherence & Cohesion
- A clear four- or five-paragraph structure in which each body paragraph has one controlling idea introduced by a topic sentence.
- Ideas progress logically towards the writer's judgement — for example, presenting the strongest version of each view before explaining why one is more persuasive or how the two can be reconciled.
- Cohesion relies on referencing and logical sequencing ("this investment", "such returns", "the same budget") rather than a mechanical chain of "Firstly… Moreover… Furthermore".
Lexical Resource
- Uses precise, topic-appropriate vocabulary: opportunity cost, spin-off technologies, basic research, allocation of resources, humanitarian priorities, long-term returns, Earth observation.
- Paraphrases the prompt rather than copying it ("worthwhile use of public money" → "a justifiable call on the taxpayer"; "problems on Earth" → "pressing terrestrial needs").
- Uses less common collocations naturally ("a drop in the ocean", "yield dividends", "compete for funding") without forcing in rare words for effect.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
- A mix of complex structures under control: conditionals ("Were this budget redirected…"), concession ("While it is true that…"), and cleft sentences for emphasis ("It is precisely this research that…").
- Accurate modality for hedged argument ("may well", "is unlikely to", "would arguably"), which a debate about uncertain future benefits requires.
- Punctuation supports long sentences — commas around subordinate clauses, no comma splices — and errors are rare and never obscure meaning.
Common traps for this specific test
The mistakes most likely to cost marks on these two questions.
The collapse in 2020 is dramatic, but the 2005–2019 period contains the most useful comparisons: Korea almost doubled, France grew then plateaued, and Japan fell until 2011 before recovering. An answer that spends 80% of its words on 2020 ignores most of the graph.
Between 2005 and 2011, Japanese admissions declined from 160 to 145 million while both other countries rose. This divergence is a key feature; stating that "all three countries increased until 2019" is inaccurate.
By 2022 no country had returned to its 2019 figure: France reached 152 of 213 million, Japan 152 of 195, Korea only 113 of 227. Writing "admissions recovered" without qualification misreports the data — the recovery is partial and uneven.
It is tempting to mention the pandemic or streaming services. Task 1 asks for description and comparison only; explanations are irrelevant and use up words that should carry figures.
With nine dates and three lines there are 27 points. Select the start, the 2019 peak, the 2020 low and the 2022 end, and add one or two turning points (Japan's 2011 low; Korea's jump between 2011 and 2014).
The question is about the use of public money. Essays that celebrate discovery without weighing it against alternative uses of the same funds fail to engage with the actual prompt.
A discussion essay must treat both positions with comparable depth before the writer's opinion. A single line conceding that "some people think poverty matters more" caps Task Response at Band 6.
Writers sometimes quote invented budgets ("NASA spends 50% of the US budget"). Made-up statistics undermine credibility; argue from proportion and principle, or use figures only when you are sure of them.