Band 8 model answer
A model answer written to illustrate a Band 8 response to this question, with the rubric breakdown and what carries it. Written by us as a teaching example, not a verified exam script.
“The bar chart shows forest area as a percentage of total land area in five countries in 1990 and 2020.”8
Overall
8
Task response
8
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The bar chart compares forest area as a percentage of land area in five countries in 1990 and 2020.
Overall, all five countries recorded changes in forest cover over the three decades, with Brazil and Indonesia suffering the most significant declines. India and China, by contrast, bucked the trend by increasing their forest share.
Brazil had the highest forest coverage in 1990 at 70.5%, but this fell to 59.4% by 2020, a reduction of 11.1 percentage points. Indonesia saw a similarly steep decline, from 65.4% to 49.1%, losing more than 16 percentage points over the period. Nigeria also recorded a notable decrease, from 30% to 23.7%.
India and China showed the opposite pattern. India's forest share rose from 21.5% to 24.3%, while China's increased from 16.7% to 23.4%, almost matching India's 2020 figure. By 2020, China and India had similar forest coverage at around 23 to 24% of land area, whereas in 1990 China had been noticeably below India. Despite these modest gains, Brazil remained the most forested country in both years, though its lead over Indonesia narrowed from around five percentage points in 1990 to approximately ten percentage points in 2020.
- •Overview correctly identifies the contrasting directions of change without prematurely using figures.
- •Accurately quantifies the steepest decline (Indonesia: more than 16 percentage points) and the notable convergence of India and China.
- •Good use of contrast language: 'bucked the trend', 'opposite pattern', 'whereas'.
- •Final sentence rounds off the body with a cross-year comparison of the top two countries.
- •The final sentence contains a slight inconsistency on Brazil's lead over Indonesia; re-checking that calculation against the exact data would sharpen it.
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