Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the number of overseas visitors to five cities and the average amount each visitor spent per visit in 2019 and 2023.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| City | Visitors 2019 (m) | Visitors 2023 (m) | Spending 2019 (USD) | Spending 2023 (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | 22.8 | 24.6 | 640 | 690 |
| Paris | 19.1 | 20.4 | 910 | 1050 |
| Dubai | 16.7 | 17.9 | 1350 | 1540 |
| Hong Kong | 23.8 | 11.2 | 780 | 1120 |
| Istanbul | 13.4 | 20.2 | 560 | 520 |
Write at least 150 words.
Task 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Many young people today feel under pressure to be constantly successful in their studies, careers and personal lives.
What are the causes of this pressure? What can be done to reduce it?
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 covering both metrics: visitor numbers rose in four of the five cities, spending per visit rose in four, and Hong Kong is the striking exception where numbers more than halved while spending rose sharply.
- Selects and groups rather than reading out all twenty figures: the steady performers (Bangkok, Paris, Dubai), the reversal (Hong Kong) and the volume-led growth at lower spending (Istanbul).
- Supports each feature with accurate figures and simple calculations where they help (Hong Kong 23.8m → 11.2m; Istanbul up roughly 50% in visitors but spending down from $560 to $520; Dubai the highest spend in both years).
- Stays descriptive; no speculation about why Hong Kong's numbers fell or why Dubai visitors spend more.
Coherence & Cohesion
- Organises by pattern rather than by row — for example, one paragraph on the cities where both metrics rose and one on the two cities that break the pattern — instead of five paragraphs, one per city.
- Uses referencing and substitution ("the former", "the Gulf city", "the same period", "its visitors") so that city names and metrics are not repeated in every clause.
- Cohesive devices mark contrast and comparison where they are needed ("by contrast", "whereas", "the only city to…") without being stacked mechanically.
Lexical Resource
- Uses the vocabulary of both metrics accurately and distinctly: arrivals, visitor numbers, footfall versus spend per head, average outlay, expenditure per visit.
- Describes change with the right strength: Hong Kong's numbers more than halved / collapsed; Istanbul's surged; Bangkok's edged up; spending in Istanbul dipped slightly.
- Handles currency and magnitude naturally ("$1,540 per visit", "just over 24 million") without clumsy phrasing like "1540 dollars money".
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
- Controls comparative and superlative structures ("more than twice as many visitors as", "the highest average spend of the five") and proportional language ("roughly half", "a rise of around 50%").
- Uses past tenses accurately for the two dated years and handles "between 2019 and 2023" and "by 2023" constructions without tense slips.
- Punctuates numbers, units and parentheses correctly and keeps most sentences free of error.
Task Response
- Answers both questions fully and in proportion — causes and remedies — rather than devoting most of the essay to describing the pressure itself.
- Identifies specific, plausible causes (e.g. the visibility of peers' achievements on social media, competitive university entry, parental expectations in a tight job market) rather than a vague "modern life is stressful".
- Proposes measures that are linked to the causes named, and that are realistic and attributable to someone — schools, parents, employers, platforms — not just "people should relax".
- Maintains a clear line of argument across both parts, with a conclusion that draws the causes and measures together rather than introducing new points.
Coherence & Cohesion
- A clear structure that signals which part of the question each paragraph answers: typically one body paragraph on causes and one on measures, each with a topic sentence.
- Ideas within a paragraph progress logically (cause → how it operates → who it affects) instead of being listed without development.
- Cohesion through referencing ("this comparison", "such expectations", "these institutions") and logical sequencing rather than a linker at the start of every sentence.
Lexical Resource
- Uses precise vocabulary for the topic: peer comparison, curated self-presentation, credential inflation, perfectionism, burnout, resilience, well-being provision, realistic benchmarks.
- Paraphrases the prompt effectively ("feel under pressure to be constantly successful" → "an expectation of uninterrupted achievement").
- Uses less common collocations naturally ("measure themselves against", "a culture of overwork", "set the tone", "normalise failure") without forcing rare words in.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
- Uses a range of structures for cause and effect ("because of", "stems from", "which in turn leads to") and for recommendation ("schools could", "platforms should be required to").
- Handles modal verbs and hedging appropriately ("may", "is likely to", "would go some way towards") to keep claims proportionate.
- Complex sentences with relative and subordinate clauses are punctuated correctly; 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 table has two metrics. An answer that describes arrivals in detail and mentions spending in a single sentence has covered only half the data. Both must appear in the overview and in the body.
Hong Kong's visitor numbers more than halved, but its average spend rose from $780 to $1,120 — the second-largest increase in the table. Treating the city as a simple fall misses the most interesting feature of the data.
Istanbul is the only city where spending per visit fell (from $560 to $520) while visitor numbers surged by roughly 50%. It is the mirror image of Hong Kong and deserves a sentence of its own.
Estimating total revenue by multiplying visitors by spend is tempting but not required, and it shifts attention from the figures actually given. If you do it, label it clearly as an approximation.
Five cities, two metrics and two years invite a monotonous row-by-row account. Group the three cities where both metrics rose, then deal with the two exceptions.
Two-part questions are marked on both parts. Essays that spend 300 words on causes and one sentence on solutions are capped at Band 6 for Task Response, however fluent they are.
"Young people should stop comparing themselves" is advice, not a measure. Say who would act — schools, parents, employers, social-media companies, governments — and what they would actually do.
It is a genuine cause, but a one-cause essay is thin. Competitive admissions, the job market and family expectations are equally relevant and give the essay range.