Band 9 model answer
A model answer written to illustrate a Band 9 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 table shows population, growth rate and median age in five countries in 2020.”9
Overall
9
Task response
9
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
9
Grammar
The table presents population (millions), annual growth rate (%) and median age (years) for five countries in 2020.
Overall, Japan stood apart as the only country with a shrinking population and the oldest median age, while Nigeria was the fastest-growing nation and had the youngest population by a substantial margin.
China and India were by far the most populous countries, with 1,411 million and 1,380 million inhabitants respectively, together accounting for the majority of the five-country total. The USA ranked third at 331 million, followed by Nigeria at 206 million and Japan at 126 million. In terms of growth, Nigeria recorded the highest annual rate at 2.6%, compared with India at 1.0% and the USA at 0.4%. China's growth was minimal at 0.2%, whereas Japan was the only country experiencing population decline, at -0.3%.
The median age figures reinforced these contrasts sharply. Japan's population was the oldest, with a median age of 48 years, a figure 30 years higher than Nigeria's 18 years, which was the youngest across the table. China and the USA shared the same median age of 38 years, while India's figure of 28 years sat between the extremes. The data therefore illustrate a clear pattern: countries with the fastest growth tended to have the youngest populations, and those with slow or negative growth the oldest.
- •Overview correctly names Japan and Nigeria as the two defining extremes across multiple columns.
- •Groups the population column and the growth column cleanly, then handles median age as a separate paragraph.
- •Accurate figures throughout, with 'compared with', 'whereas' and 'a figure 30 years higher than' used for precise contrast.
- •Closing synthesis ties the growth and age columns together without overstating causation.
- •A single explicit cross-column link between Nigeria's growth rate and its very low median age earlier in the essay would reinforce the pattern slightly sooner.
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