03. Look at the Task 1 practice question and the table. With a partner, discuss the questions below.

The table gives information about the number of deep mines producing coal in the UK between 1913 and 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

1. What is the general trend in these figures?

2. Which years or time periods would you focus on as the most salient?

1913 - 1943 -
1963 - 1983 -
2003 - 2015 -

04. Look at the marking criteria for IELTS Writing and read a candidate's answer to Task 1. What do you think are its strengths and weaknesses?

SAMPLE ANSWER

The table shows the number 0f deep coal mines in the UK between 1913 and 2015.0bviously,there is a decline over the period. We can say that coal mines almost disappeared and there were only 5 left in 2015.

In 1913, there were 3024 deep coal mines but this number began to decrease. The number of mines fell sharply and consistently over the subsequent years. Nevertheless, in 1943 there were 1690 mines left. This means that in a period of thirty years, the number of mines had almost halved. By 1963, this figure had virtually halved again.

Surprisingly, in the 19805 we see another huge reduction, with the number falling to around 20% of 1963 levels. By the time the current century began, there had been another decrease. In 2003, the number of deep mines producing coal dropped to 20. At last, we see that there are only 5 mines left.

In conclusion, there was a decreasing trend in mining in Britain for the duration of the period shown in the chart.

Suggested answers

Strengths of the essay
TA: The description is accurate and there is data to support the description.
CC: Overall structure makes sense, with logical paragraphing
LR: A fairly good range of vocabulary is used to avoid repetition: decline, disappeared, decrease, fell sharply, dropped, only 5 left.
GRA: Past tenses are generally used correctly

Weaknesses
CC: Some of the cohesion is faulty: obviously, nevertheless, surprisingly and at last are used incorrectly.
CC: A wider range of linkers / cohesive language could be used. For example, when referring to time periods, the writer almost always uses In+ year to introduce the information.