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 line graph shows general government gross debt as a percentage of GDP in four countries from 2000 to 2020.”8
Overall
8
Task response
8
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The line graph illustrates government gross debt as a percentage of GDP in Japan, the USA, the UK and Germany between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, debt rose in Japan, the USA and the UK across the period, with Japan remaining by far the highest throughout. Germany was the only country to reduce its debt in the latter part of the period, ending slightly below its 2000 level.
Japan's debt was already the highest at 137% of GDP in 2000 and increased relentlessly to 207% by 2010 and 254% by 2020. The USA climbed from 55% to 132%, more than doubling over the two decades, while the UK moved from 37% to 102%, crossing the 100% threshold for the first time.
Germany presents a contrasting picture. Its debt rose from 59% in 2000 to a peak of 81% in 2010 before declining to 69% in 2020, just below its starting point, making it the only country to reduce debt in the latter half of the period. By 2020 the gap between Japan and Germany stood at approximately 185 percentage points.
- •Overview correctly highlights Japan's dominant and rising trajectory alongside Germany's distinctly different pattern.
- •Germany's peak in 2010 and subsequent decline is accurately identified as the key outlier feature.
- •Effective use of contrast: 'Japan presents a contrasting picture', 'the only country to reduce its debt'.
- •Precise figures for all key turning points, with the UK's crossing of 100% noted as a meaningful milestone.
- •The final sentence on the Japan-Germany gap, while striking, could instead note the closer spread at the start for additional analytical balance.
Write your own. Get a real band read.
Reading a model answer only takes you so far. Write your own response to this question and we’ll grade it against the four official rubrics, the same way we scored this one.
Attempt this question