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Additional notes PDF

Write something the reader can check

A club poster says, “Our membership has grown by 20%.” It began with 50 members. Does it now have 70? No. Twenty per cent of 50 is 10, so it has 60. Good Writing starts with this kind of care: say what the information actually supports. A longer word cannot repair a wrong number.

This supplement adds original worked tasks to the existing Academic Writing notes. It does not replace them. The sample responses are teaching examples, not officially rated scripts. No example here promises a band score. General Training letter writing is a different Task 1.

Use the task rules and scoring carefully

Academic Writing has two tasks within 60 minutes. Write at least 150 words for Task 1 and 250 for Task 2. Task 2 has twice Task 1's weight. A 20-minute and 40-minute split is useful planning guidance. Write connected paragraphs, not an answer made of notes or bullet points. Our planning tables below are learning tools, not the format to submit in the test.

Each task uses four equally weighted criteria: completing the task, organising ideas, vocabulary and grammar. Task 1 requires accurate selected features. An overview 概述 summarises the main pattern or stages. Task 2 requires relevant developed ideas and a clear answer to the prompt. These features work together across the whole response.

Read the older notes' fixed band claims cautiously. A short response needs correction, but do not calculate an automatic one-band deduction from its length. An unsupported cause, a missing part or an unclear position can damage an answer. One sentence does not let you determine the complete script's band here. A concession, two corrected errors or five minutes of planning do not guarantee a score increase. Practise the improvement, then review the entire answer against the actual criteria.

Select evidence from a chart and table

This original classroom task reports the number of members in three clubs. All figures are invented for learning. They are counts, not percentages.

Task: Summarise the information by selecting and reporting its main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Club	2020	2022	2024
Music	40	60	80
Art	70	65	60
Coding	20	50	90

The line chart and table show the same information. They are alternative ways to display it. Do not count them as two separate sets of members.

Plan before writing

• Identify the unit: members. Identify the dates: 2020, 2022 and 2024.
• Select the main pattern: coding and music grew; art fell. Coding finished largest.
• Group the rising clubs in one paragraph. Compare art and the combined total in another.
• Select figures that support those comparisons. Do not invent a cause for any change.

Check the calculations

Music rose from 40 to 80: its final membership was twice its initial membership. Coding rose by 70, from 20 to 90. It did not rise to 70. Art fell by 10, from 70 to 60. The total rose from 130 to 230. The relative change 相对变化 for coding is 70 divided by 20, or 350%. Its final count is 450% of its original count. Those are different statements.

No intermediate dates are given. Do not claim continuous growth in every month. A straight line between plotted years does not provide a monthly membership record. No cause is given. “Students preferred computers” adds information outside this task.

Read a complete Task 1 response

The following response uses four connected paragraphs. Read it before looking at the explanation.

The table and line chart show the numbers of members in three school clubs in 2020, 2022 and 2024. The clubs were music, art and coding, and each figure represents a count of members.

Overall, membership increased in both music and coding, while the art club became smaller. Coding recorded the largest increase and had the most members by 2024, although it had started with the fewest.

The music club grew from 40 members in 2020 to 60 in 2022 and 80 in 2024. Its final membership was therefore twice its initial figure. Coding showed a greater change, rising from 20 to 50 and then 90. By the final year, it had ten more members than music, reversing their order at the start of the period.

In contrast, art membership fell from 70 to 65 and then 60. Art was the largest club in 2020 but the smallest in 2024. Despite this decline, the combined membership of the three clubs rose from 130 to 230 over the period.

Why these paragraphs work

The first paragraph identifies what is counted and when. It does not copy every word of the task. The second gives the large pattern and changing order. It is an overview, not a list of all values. The third groups the two increases and supports them with numbers. The fourth contrasts art and accurately reports the overall total. The response gives no opinion about which club is best and invents no cause. Its arithmetic can be checked against the table. It is not an official band exemplar.

Distinguish shares, amounts and static comparisons

Suppose the share of a household budget spent on travel rises from 20% to 24%. That is four percentage points 百分点, but a 20% relative rise in the share. Calculate the relative rise as four divided by twenty. Do not call it a four per cent relative rise.

You also need the total budget to compare money spent. With a budget of 1,000 in the first year, travel spending is 200. With a budget of 500 in the second year, it is 120. The share rose while the amount fell. Report only the measures that the task supplies. A pie chart can represent categories of amounts as parts of a stated total; read its labels and units.

A chart of three clubs in just 2024 permits comparisons, not a trend over time. “Coding was the largest club” is supported. “Coding grew rapidly” needs another date. For a static chart, group high and low values or related categories rather than inventing a change. For several charts, check whether their populations, dates and units can honestly be compared.

Describe changes on a plan

The two original plans show a study centre in 2020 and 2024. North is at the top. Only the uses of the four spaces are shown; there is no evidence about visitor numbers.

Select the main changes

In 2020, the northwest space was a store and the northeast space was a classroom. In 2024, the store became a meeting room and the classroom became a computer room. The reception in the southwest and reading room in the southeast remained in the same locations. The entrance stayed on the southern side. The plans show no extension to the outside boundary.

A useful overview is: “Two rooms changed their use, while the reception, reading room and entrance remained in place.” A detail sentence is: “The store in the northwest was replaced by a meeting room.” Do not write “a new building was constructed” when only an internal use changed. Do not claim that the new room is busier, larger or cheaper without evidence.

Plan a full response

Introduce the place and two dates. Give the overall changes and unchanged features. Then group the northern changes and southern features in connected paragraphs. Support the description with positions rather than invented statistics. The two teaching sentences above are examples of selection, not a complete 150-word submission.

Explain a process without forcing one grammar form

The original diagram shows how seedlings are prepared for an outdoor bed. It has five stages, begins with sowing and ends with planting outside. It is a sequence, not a closed cycle.

Choose precise verbs

Seeds are sown in trays. The trays are then watered. Next, the seedlings grow. After that, the seedlings are moved into separate pots. Finally, the young plants are planted in an outdoor bed.

Passive forms suit actions when the person doing them is not important. “Seedlings grow” is active because growth is what the plants do. “Seedlings are grown” could describe cultivation, but changes the focus to someone growing them. Do not force every process sentence into the passive.

The diagram gives no durations, temperature or production yield. Do not invent them. Use a sequence word when it helps the reader follow a stage. You do not need furthermore before each step. For a cycle, explain where the output returns to an earlier stage if the diagram shows it. For a natural process, use accurate active forms where they fit.

Read every part of a Task 2 prompt

A prompt 题目 tells you what to discuss, not just the broad topic. Underline the people, action, limits and questions before choosing your ideas. The five classroom prompts below are original examples of common task demands, not a complete list of every possible wording.

Opinion

“Schools should replace all printed textbooks with digital materials. To what extent do you agree or disagree?”

You may agree, disagree or take a qualified position. Make the extent clear and develop it consistently. “I support digital materials for some lessons but oppose replacing every printed book” directly addresses all. A qualified view is not automatically weak. An unexplained change of position is a problem.

Both views and your opinion

“Some people want school libraries to provide only books. Others want them to provide tools as well. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.”

Explain a reason for the book-only view and a reason for tool lending. State and support your own view. Reporting both views without your own answer leaves an instruction unfinished. Giving only your preferred view also leaves part unfinished.

Advantages, disadvantages and outweigh

“More students now travel to school by bicycle. Do the advantages of this change outweigh the disadvantages?”

Consider benefits and problems, then make a judgement about their relative importance. Two benefits and three problems do not automatically mean that problems outweigh benefits. Compare strength, effect and context. A serious safety issue can matter more than several minor conveniences. If the instruction only asks for advantages and disadvantages, do not pretend it also requires an outweigh decision.

Causes and solutions

“Students at a college often leave assignments until the last evening. What causes this problem, and what could help?”

Match solutions to explained causes. Unclear project stages could be addressed with intermediate deadlines. If your cause is limited access to computers, another reminder alone does not provide access. Discuss how a proposed solution changes the problem rather than simply listing it.

Two questions

“Why do some young adults choose to study away from home? What problems can this choice create?”

Answer both reasons for the choice and problems created by it. A long paragraph on reasons cannot substitute for the missing problems. A plan might group access to a desired course and independence, then housing costs and support needs.

Develop an idea with a reason and an example

Weak point: “Printed books are good.” The reader cannot see why this matters to the prompt.

Developed point: “Printed books remain useful when students cannot charge a device at home. A learner can continue reading without electricity. For example, a student sharing one family device may have limited evening access. Keeping a printed copy therefore helps that student complete preparation.”

The example is a plausible situation, not a claimed survey result. Do not invent “a university study proves that 92% learn better” to make an unsupported point sound factual. You do not need a scientific citation to reason from a clearly described example.

A useful chain is point, reason, example and consequence. Change the order when the idea needs it. Do not add an irrelevant example merely to fill that pattern. An objection 异议 can help test your position, but including one does not itself raise a band. Explain why your conclusion still follows after considering it.

Read a complete Task 2 essay

Use the opinion prompt about replacing all printed textbooks. The following response takes a qualified position. It is an original teaching example, not an officially scored script.

Digital materials can give students quick access to information and useful learning tools. However, I disagree with replacing all printed textbooks. Schools should use digital resources where they improve a lesson, while keeping printed copies available for students who need them.

One reason to use digital materials is that they can present information in several ways. A science resource might combine a diagram with a short animation, allowing a student to see how a process changes over time. It can also provide questions with immediate explanations. These features can help a learner check understanding before the next lesson. However, simply putting a photograph of a printed page on a screen does not offer the same benefit. Schools should therefore choose materials for their teaching value rather than their format alone.

A complete replacement would also create access problems. Some students share a device with other family members, or have unreliable internet access at home. If every reading task requires a connected device, those students may struggle to prepare. Keeping a printed textbook allows them to work without waiting for another person to finish using a computer. Teachers could still provide optional digital practice, so access to a book would not prevent students from using useful online resources.

Supporters of full replacement may argue that digital texts are easier to update and avoid carrying heavy books. These are real advantages, especially when information changes quickly. Yet they do not require schools to remove every printed copy. A mixed approach can use updated digital sections while retaining books for longer reading and reliable home access.

In conclusion, digital resources should expand the ways students learn, but they should not completely replace printed textbooks. A choice of formats better combines useful technology with dependable access.

Review meaning, organisation and language

Check the essay against its prompt

The introduction opposes a complete replacement while supporting useful digital resources. The first body paragraph explains digital benefits and limits. The second develops access problems. The third considers an opposing reason and answers it. The conclusion keeps the same qualified position. The response does not change from “replace every book” to an unrelated discussion of social media. Its paragraph structure is one possible answer, not a compulsory template.

Make precise revisions

• “Digital books are better in every way.” Replace the unsupported absolute with the particular benefit you can explain.
• “The number of students have risen.” Use “has risen”: the subject is the singular number.
• “Many student need equipments.” Write “Many students need equipment”: plural people, uncountable equipment.
• “Although it is useful, but access is limited.” Remove but, or write two separate sentences.
• “The book is expensive, students share it.” Repair the comma splice: “The book is expensive, so students share it.”
• “The chart increased to 70 members.” Name the measured thing: “Club membership increased to 70.”

Choose a word because it expresses your meaning accurately. A collocation 词语搭配 is a usual word combination, such as make a decision or heavy rain. Do not reject a phrase merely because it is uncommon, or assume a rare word deserves extra credit. “Ameliorate a problem” can be valid English. Improve the situation may still be clearer for this audience. Review suitability in its sentence rather than applying an automatic penalty to one word.

Practise with explained answers

Try these short tasks before reading the explanations. They test decisions, not a full timed Writing performance.

1. Coding goes from 20 to 90 members. Complete: “It rose by ___ members, to ___.”
2. A share rises from 20% to 24%. Give the percentage-point and relative changes.
3. Can a larger share prove that the amount spent increased?
4. Which overview fits the clubs: all clubs grew, or two grew while one declined?
5. Can the club table prove why coding became popular?
6. In the centre plans, what changed in the northwest? What remained in the southwest?
7. Should “seedlings grow” be made passive just because this is a process task?
8. For the textbook prompt, does a clearly explained partial disagreement answer “to what extent”?
9. A bicycle essay gives advantages and disadvantages but never decides which outweighs the other. What is missing?
10. A procrastination essay gives computer access as a cause and reminders as its only solution. What needs explaining or changing?
11. Repair: “Many student discuss about their advices.”
12. Does correcting two grammar errors guarantee a half-band increase?

Explained answers

1. By 70, to 90. By is the change; to is the final value.
2. Four percentage points and a 20% relative rise: four divided by twenty is 0.20.
3. No. You need the total as well. Our example's travel amount fell from 200 to 120.
4. Two grew while one declined. Music and coding rose; art fell.
5. No. It records membership, not motivations or causes.
6. The store became a meeting room. The reception remained in the southwest.
7. No. Active grow accurately states what the plants do. Choose grammar for the meaning.
8. Yes. The extent must be clear and the whole response must develop it consistently.
9. A supported judgement about relative importance. Counting the listed points is not enough.
10. Explain how reminders solve access, if they can. Otherwise propose an access solution, such as available computer time.
11. “Many students discuss their advice.” Discuss takes its object directly; advice is uncountable.
12. No. The whole response, range, accuracy and other criteria still matter.

Use the clock and review your own work

One possible Task 1 budget is three minutes to read and plan, fourteen to write and three to check. For Task 2, try five minutes to plan, thirty-two to write and three to review. Those totals are twenty and forty minutes. Practise to find a workable budget; no split guarantees a band. Do not assume Task 2 must always be written first. Keep enough time for both tasks.

Review after timed practice

Check task coverage and evidence before polishing vocabulary. Mark one repeated language problem and correct every occurrence you can find. Keep a short error record: original sentence, corrected sentence and reason. Then write another response and check whether that pattern has improved.

Count the sample responses as a learning check. In your own timed response, meet the minimum without adding irrelevant filler. Our short map/process sentences and revision answers are not full submissions. For broader practice, write full reports for the original map and process, and full essays for the other prompts. Check that the report covers the visual's actual features and the essay answers every requested part.