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 life expectancy at birth in five countries from 1990 to 2020.”8
Overall
8
Task response
8
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The line graph presents life expectancy at birth, in years, for Japan, the UK, China, Brazil and Nigeria between 1990 and 2020.
Overall, all five countries recorded increases over the period, with Japan maintaining the highest life expectancy throughout and Nigeria remaining the lowest by a considerable margin. The UK showed a brief dip between 2015 and 2020, the only decline visible in the data.
Japan began at 78.8 years in 1990 and rose steadily to 84.6 years in 2020, the highest figure across all five countries at every time point. The UK increased from 75.9 to a peak of 81 years by 2015 before edging back slightly to 80.3 in 2020. China and Brazil followed broadly similar upward paths: China climbed from 68.2 to 78 years, while Brazil rose from 65.9 to 74.5 years, with both showing the steepest gains in the earlier part of the period.
Nigeria started far behind the others at just 45.7 years in 1990 and increased only modestly to 53.1 years by 2020. The gap between Nigeria and Japan narrowed only marginally over the period, from approximately 33 years to just over 31 years.
- •Overview correctly identifies Japan's consistent lead, Nigeria's persistent gap, and the UK's unique dip.
- •The narrowing but still vast gap between Nigeria and Japan is quantified accurately.
- •Comparative language is well varied: 'broadly similar paths', 'edging back slightly', 'far behind the other four'.
- •The observation about slowing gains post-2010 is a perceptive summary trend not tied to any single country.
- •The description of Brazil's intermediate points (2000 and 2010) is omitted; one figure would better illustrate the earlier steeper climb.
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