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 the share of renewable energy in total final energy consumption in four countries from 1990 to 2020.”8
Overall
8
Task response
8
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The line graph shows the renewable share of final energy consumption, as a percentage, in Germany, the USA, Brazil and China between 1990 and 2020.
Overall, Germany and the USA recorded consistent growth, while Brazil fluctuated around a high level throughout. China's share declined sharply in the early period before stabilising and recovering modestly by 2020. Brazil remained comfortably the highest of the four throughout.
Brazil began at 49.8% in 1990, fell to 42.7% in 2000, then partially recovered to 46.8% in 2010 before dipping again to 43.7% in 2015 and rebounding to 50% in 2020, essentially returning to its 1990 level. China, by contrast, started at 33.9% in 1990 but declined steeply to 29.6% in 2000 and further to 12.3% in 2010, before stabilising at 12.2% in 2015 and edging up to 14.9% in 2020, remaining far below its starting figure.
Germany recorded the strongest growth of the remaining two, rising from 2.1% in 1990 to 18.5% in 2020, an almost ninefold increase. The USA grew more modestly from 4.2% to 11%. A crossover occurred between Germany and China between 2010 and 2015, when Germany's rising share surpassed China's much lower stabilised level.
- •Brazil's fluctuating but persistently high share and China's steep early decline are both correctly described.
- •The crossover between Germany and China is accurately identified and placed in the right time interval.
- •Germany's near-ninefold rise is precisely quantified, providing a strong comparative anchor.
- •Varied language for different trend shapes: 'fluctuated', 'declined steeply', 'edging up', 'rebounding'.
- •The description of the USA is somewhat brief; one interim value (e.g., 2005 or 2010) would make its growth arc more concrete.
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