This week's sessions
Tick each session when you finish it. Your ticks are saved only in this browser.
- Task 1: overview and key featuresRead this week's lesson and the Task 1 guide. For each example chart, write a band 7 overview with no numbers.
- Overviews and comparison languageDo the Task 1 practice set below, then write two sentences using respectively and percentage points.
- Matching headings at band 7Read the matching headings guide, then do the headings practice set below. Note which distractor headings tempted you and why.
- Reading practice test 6Do one passage in 20 minutes, keeping to the 90-second rule.
- Academic Reading full test 2Do the first two passages in 37 minutes (17 and 20), or the full test if you have an hour. Compare your score with week 2.
This week's lesson: a clear Task 1 overview and error-free complex sentences
This week has two goals: a Task 1 report that reaches band 7, and grammar that gives you frequent error-free sentences, the single biggest feature separating band 6 and band 7 in Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
Task 1 at band 7: the overview
The band 7 descriptor asks for a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages. Band 6 reports often have an overview, but it's vague or buried in the details.
Band 6: Overall, there were some changes in the figures. Band 7: Overall, car use declined over the period while every other mode of transport grew, with cycling showing the largest relative increase.
A good overview has no numbers and covers the two or three most important features. Put it straight after the introduction, so the examiner can't miss it.
Selecting and grouping data
Band 7 reports highlight key features; they don't describe every number. Group similar data together:
Walking and working from home both rose only slightly, by one and two percentage points respectively.
Respectively lets you report two figures in one accurate sentence.
Precise comparison language
- more than doubled, fell by roughly a third, a fivefold increase
- the figure for X was twice that of Y
- X overtook Y in 2020
- percentage (a value) versus percentage point (the difference between two percentages)
The share of cyclists rose from 4% to 9%, an increase of five percentage points.
Processes and maps
For a process, use the passive and sequence words: The leaves are first dried, after which they are ground. For a map, use location and change language: The car park was replaced by a library; to the north of the river, a new bridge was built.
Grammar: range with accuracy
Band 7 uses a variety of complex structures and produces frequent error-free sentences. Complexity without control doesn't help. These structures are useful in both tasks:
- Relative clauses: Cycling, which was the least popular option in 2015, had overtaken walking by 2025.
- Participle clauses: Having peaked in 2010, sales fell steadily.
- Concessive clauses: Although car use fell, it remained the dominant mode.
- Noun phrases: The sharp rise in cycling suggests... instead of Cycling rose sharply, and this suggests...
The errors that keep you at 6.5
Check your writing for these, every time:
- Articles with abstract nouns: the development of technology, but technology has developed.
- Comma splices: ~~Car use fell, cycling rose.~~ → Car use fell, while cycling rose.
- Tense consistency in Task 1, especially with had + past participle after by 2025.
- Countable or uncountable: evidence, research, equipment, infrastructure take no -s.
Try it
Join these two sentences into one accurate complex sentence: Online sales rose steadily. They overtook in-store sales in 2022.
Online sales rose steadily, overtaking in-store sales in 2022. Having risen steadily, online sales overtook in-store sales in 2022.
Both are correct; choose the one you can write without errors.
A self-check routine (3 minutes)
Read each sentence once and ask: Is this sentence completely correct? Mark any you're unsure of and simplify them. A slightly simpler sentence with no errors helps your band more than an ambitious one with two.
Practice for this week
Overviews and comparison language
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Matching headings at band 7
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Weekly check: Writing practice 5
Both tasks in 60 minutes; check every sentence with the self-check routine.
When you finish, come back to your plan home: your dashboard updates with the new score.
Answers, explanations and transcripts
Finish the test first, then open each section to check your answers. Every answer has an explanation.
Overviews and comparison language
Answer key (7 answers)
| # | Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A chart shows that car use fell from 64% to 51% between 2015 and 2025, while public transport, cycling and walking all rose. Which is the best overview? | Overall, although driving remained the most common way to travel, its share declined while every other mode grew. | C identifies the main features without numbers. A is too vague, B uses a figure (save details for the body), and D gives an opinion. |
| 2 | Cycling rose from 4% to 9%. Which sentence is accurate? | Cycling increased by five percentage points. | The difference between two percentages is measured in percentage points. In relative terms, cycling more than doubled. |
| 3 | Walking rose by one point and working from home by two. Which sentence is correct? | Walking and working from home rose by one and two points respectively. | 'Respectively' matches the figures to the items in the same order: walking = one, working from home = two. |
| 4 | A table has 24 figures. What should a band 7 report do? | Select the key features and group similar data | Band 7 highlights key features. Listing everything makes it hard for the reader to see the main points, and explaining reasons goes beyond the task. |
| 5 | Which sentence is correct and uses a complex structure? | Cycling, which was the least popular option in 2015, had overtaken walking by 2025. | A uses a correct non-defining relative clause (with commas) and the past perfect after 'by 2025'. C is a comma splice. |
| 6 | Which sentence uses a participle clause correctly? | Having peaked in 2010, sales declined steadily over the next decade. | 'Having + past participle' shows the first action happened before the second. |
| 7 | Which sentence best describes one stage of a process? | The leaves are first dried, after which they are ground into a fine powder. | Processes are usually described with the passive and clear sequencing ('first', 'after which'). |
Matching headings at band 7
Passage text
The science of queuing
A The mathematical study of queues began in the early twentieth century, when a Danish engineer working for a telephone company tried to calculate how many lines were needed to keep callers' waiting times acceptable. His equations are still used today, not only by telephone networks but also by hospitals, airports and supermarkets.
B Yet the mathematics explains only part of the experience. Psychologists have found that how long a wait feels can matter more than how long it actually lasts. Time spent with nothing to do seems longer than occupied time, and uncertain waits feel longer than those where people know how long they will be standing in line.
C Businesses have used these findings in creative ways. Some airports deliberately lengthened the walk from the gate to the baggage area, so that passengers spent less time standing at the carousel; complaints fell, even though the total time was unchanged. Similarly, displaying an estimated waiting time can reduce frustration, provided the estimate is reasonably accurate.
D Fairness is another powerful factor. Studies show that people strongly prefer a single line feeding several counters to separate lines for each counter, even when the average wait is the same. In separate lines, customers constantly compare their progress with others, and the sight of a neighbouring line moving faster can cause considerable annoyance.
E Technology now offers ways to avoid physical queues altogether. Many restaurants and medical clinics send a text message when a table or an appointment is ready, allowing people to wait wherever they like. Critics note, however, that such systems may disadvantage people without mobile phones, and that some customers still prefer the reassurance of being able to see their place in line.
Answer key (5 answers)
| # | Question | Answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Choose the best heading for paragraph A. | iii. The origins of a mathematical approach | Paragraph A describes how the study of queues began with an engineer's equations. Heading vi is a distractor: the passage never says queues are getting longer. |
| 9 | Choose the best heading for paragraph B. | i. Why perception matters more than duration | Paragraph B: how long a wait 'feels can matter more than how long it actually lasts' = perception versus duration. |
| 10 | Choose the best heading for paragraph C. | iv. Using psychology to reduce complaints | Paragraph C gives examples of businesses applying psychological findings, and 'complaints fell'. It's tempting to choose i, but C is about using the findings, not the findings themselves. |
| 11 | Choose the best heading for paragraph D. | v. The importance of being treated equally | Paragraph D is about fairness: people prefer a single line because they can't be treated unequally. |
| 12 | Choose the best heading for paragraph E. | ii. Removing the need to stand in line | Paragraph E: technology lets people 'avoid physical queues altogether'. The criticism at the end is a detail, not the main idea. |
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