Pie Chart Model Answer
Task
The two pie charts below show the main sources of energy used in a city in 1990 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Chart
1990
2020
Key data
1990: Coal 40%, Natural Gas 25%, Nuclear 20%, Renewables 10%, Oil 5%. 2020: Renewables 35%, Natural Gas 28%, Nuclear 22%, Coal 10%, Oil 5%.
Full Response
Band 7.5 annotated answer
Each paragraph is followed by an examiner note explaining exactly what earns marks.
Introduction
The two pie charts compare the distribution of energy supply across five sources in a city in 1990 and 2020.
'Distribution of energy supply across five sources' paraphrases 'main sources of energy used'. Specifying 'five sources' shows the candidate has read the chart carefully. One sentence, no data — correct.
Overview
Key for Task AchievementOverall, the most dramatic change between the two years was the sharp decline in coal and the corresponding rise in renewable energy, which effectively swapped positions as the dominant and smallest sources respectively. Natural gas and nuclear power remained broadly stable, while oil's share was unchanged.
The overview identifies the most significant change (coal and renewables swapping positions), notes the inverse relationship between them ('corresponding rise'), and efficiently groups the three stable sources. 'Effectively swapped positions' is a sophisticated way to describe a reversal — it conveys scale without using figures.
Body Paragraph 1
Coal was the dominant energy source in 1990, accounting for 40% of the city's supply — the largest share of any category in either year. By 2020, however, this proportion had fallen dramatically to just 10%, a decline of 30 percentage points. Conversely, renewable energy underwent the most significant growth of any category, rising from 10% in 1990 to 35% in 2020, making it the largest single source in the later year.
'The largest share of any category in either year' identifies the superlative across both charts — a sign of genuine data comparison. '30 percentage points' (not '30%') is accurate. 'Conversely' creates a direct contrast between coal and renewables, showing the candidate recognises the relationship between the two trends.
Body Paragraph 2
The remaining three energy sources showed relatively minor changes over the period. Natural gas increased modestly from 25% to 28%, while nuclear energy's share grew slightly from 20% to 22%. Oil remained constant at 5% in both years, consistently representing the smallest proportion of the city's energy mix.
'Relatively minor changes' signals a deliberate selection decision — the candidate has chosen not to develop these categories at length because they are less significant. This kind of meta-commentary on data selection is a Band 7+ quality. 'Consistently representing the smallest proportion' is more precise than simply noting the 5% figure.
Comparison
Band 6 vs Band 7+ overview
The overview is the paragraph that most separates Band 6 from Band 7 in Task 1.
✗ Band 6
“Overall, coal decreased and renewables increased. Natural gas, nuclear and oil did not change much.”
✓ Band 7+
“Overall, the most dramatic change between the two years was the sharp decline in coal and the corresponding rise in renewable energy, which effectively swapped positions as the dominant and smallest sources respectively. Natural gas and nuclear power remained broadly stable, while oil's share was unchanged.”
What makes the difference
The Band 6 overview uses basic verbs ('decreased', 'increased', 'did not change much') with no sense of scale or relationship between the changes. The Band 7+ ranks the change as 'most dramatic', identifies the inverse relationship ('corresponding rise'), and uses 'swapped positions' to convey scale and pattern simultaneously — without quoting a single figure.
Why it scores Band 7.5
Key strengths of this response
Overview captures the coal-renewables reversal as a single coherent observation ('swapped positions')
'30 percentage points' reported accurately — a common error is to write '30%' instead
Body 2 explicitly labels the minor changes as 'relatively minor' — shows conscious data selection
'Conversely' links the two key trends — Band 7+ cohesive device showing causal understanding
Other Task 1 model answers