Task 2 · Band 8 path
Table — Selecting From Dense Data
Thirty numbers, six of them worth writing. The skill is choosing which six.
Recognise the visual
What this visual type shows, the tense and voice it demands, and the traps that cap it at Band 6.
Thirty numbers, six of them worth writing. The skill is choosing which six.
Regularly set, and the type candidates most often run out of time on.
Also called: Data table · Statistics table
Spotting it
How this question is worded
A grid of figures with row and column headings
No shape is drawn for you. You have to find the pattern yourself before writing a word, and the pattern is what the report is about.
Columns are years
Read ACROSS a row to find change over time. Trend language is available.
Columns are categories, rows are countries
Read DOWN a column to compare groups. No trend language — this is a comparison report, like a categorical bar chart.
A "Total" row or column
The totals usually carry the overview. They are the fastest route to a whole-table claim, and most candidates ignore them.
The rule that decides Task Response
You must select. A table routinely contains twenty to forty values and a Band 8 report quotes six of them. The overview states the pattern that holds across the whole table — usually read off the totals or the extremes — and the detail paragraphs quote only the figures that prove it. A report that works through the table cell by cell has failed the "select key features" instruction however accurate every number is.
The standard
What a Band 8 answer to this type does
- An introduction naming what is measured, the units, and how the table is organised.
- An overview built from the whole table — the totals, the highest and lowest, the clearest pattern.
- Rows or columns grouped, with a sentence naming what each group shares.
- Roughly six figures in the entire report, each one compared.
- Comparison or trend language chosen according to whether the columns are years or categories.
- The extremes named explicitly: the largest, the smallest, the biggest change.
Where the band is lost
The 6 traps in this question type
Each of these is a specific, repeatable way to lose marks on this type — not general writing advice.
Working through the table cell by cellTask Achievement capped at 6 · Coherence 6
A table invites transcription more than any other visual, because the numbers are already in reading order. The result is 200 words that contain every value and no claim, and it fails the one instruction printed on every Task 1 prompt: select and report the main features.
The fix
Before writing, circle six figures: the biggest, the smallest, the biggest change, and three that show a pattern. Those six are your report. Everything else stays on the page.
Ignoring the totals rowTask Achievement 6.5
Where a table gives totals, they are the overview handed to you, and skipping them means hunting for a whole-table claim among individual cells — which is how candidates end up with an "overview" about one country.
The fix
Read the totals first. They usually answer "what happened overall?" in one line.
Trend language when the columns are categoriesTask Achievement 6 · Lexical Resource 6
Tables are set both ways, and candidates reach for "increased" out of habit. If the columns are countries or subjects rather than years, nothing increased, and the sentence reports a change that does not exist.
The fix
Read the column headings before the first sentence. Years → trend. Anything else → comparison only.
Units dropped or mixedTask Achievement 6.5 · Lexical Resource 6.5
Tables often carry different units in different columns — a count here, a percentage there, a currency in the third. Reporting "Japan was 4.2" without saying 4.2 of what makes the figure meaningless, and applying one column's unit to another misreports the data.
The fix
Name the unit with the first figure from each column, then let it carry. Check the header of every column you quote from.
Numbers with no comparison attachedTask Achievement 6.5
A quoted figure that is not set against another figure has been copied, not reported. On a table this is especially visible because the reader can see the number you copied it from.
The fix
Give every figure a partner: another cell, the same cell in another year, or the average. "At 4.2 million, roughly double the next highest" is a report; "4.2 million" is a transcription.
Long lists joined by commasGrammatical Range & Accuracy 6.5 · Coherence 6.5
Dense data pushes candidates into "Japan was 42, Korea was 38, China was 31, India was 22" — a run-on that is punctuation-poor and structurally identical from end to end. Grammatical Range is assessed on variety, and this has none.
The fix
Convert the list into a ranked sentence with a subordinate clause: "Japan led at 42%, followed by Korea and China, with India some twenty points behind."
Quick reference
The Table at a glance
You must select. A table routinely contains twenty to forty values and a Band 8 report quotes six of them. The overview states the pattern that holds across the whole table — usually read off the totals or the extremes — and the detail paragraphs quote only the figures that prove it. A report that works through the table cell by cell has failed the "select key features" instruction however accurate every number is.
Regularly set, and the type candidates most often run out of time on.
How to recognise this question
- “A grid of figures with row and column headings”
- No shape is drawn for you. You have to find the pattern yourself before writing a word, and the pattern is what the report is about.
- “Columns are years”
- Read ACROSS a row to find change over time. Trend language is available.
- “Columns are categories, rows are countries”
- Read DOWN a column to compare groups. No trend language — this is a comparison report, like a categorical bar chart.
- “A "Total" row or column”
- The totals usually carry the overview. They are the fastest route to a whole-table claim, and most candidates ignore them.
The four-paragraph structure
What is measured, in what units, and how the table is organised.
The whole-table pattern and the extremes. Read off the totals where they exist.
One group of rows, proved with three selected figures.
The remaining rows, grouped differently, ending on the biggest gap or the exception.
The traps that cap this type at Band 6
Working through the table cell by cellTask Achievement capped at 6 · Coherence 6
A table invites transcription more than any other visual, because the numbers are already in reading order. The result is 200 words that contain every value and no claim, and it fails the one instruction printed on every Task 1 prompt: select and report the main features.
Fix: Before writing, circle six figures: the biggest, the smallest, the biggest change, and three that show a pattern. Those six are your report. Everything else stays on the page.
Ignoring the totals rowTask Achievement 6.5
Where a table gives totals, they are the overview handed to you, and skipping them means hunting for a whole-table claim among individual cells — which is how candidates end up with an "overview" about one country.
Fix: Read the totals first. They usually answer "what happened overall?" in one line.
Trend language when the columns are categoriesTask Achievement 6 · Lexical Resource 6
Tables are set both ways, and candidates reach for "increased" out of habit. If the columns are countries or subjects rather than years, nothing increased, and the sentence reports a change that does not exist.
Fix: Read the column headings before the first sentence. Years → trend. Anything else → comparison only.
Units dropped or mixedTask Achievement 6.5 · Lexical Resource 6.5
Tables often carry different units in different columns — a count here, a percentage there, a currency in the third. Reporting "Japan was 4.2" without saying 4.2 of what makes the figure meaningless, and applying one column's unit to another misreports the data.
Fix: Name the unit with the first figure from each column, then let it carry. Check the header of every column you quote from.
Numbers with no comparison attachedTask Achievement 6.5
A quoted figure that is not set against another figure has been copied, not reported. On a table this is especially visible because the reader can see the number you copied it from.
Fix: Give every figure a partner: another cell, the same cell in another year, or the average. "At 4.2 million, roughly double the next highest" is a report; "4.2 million" is a transcription.
Long lists joined by commasGrammatical Range & Accuracy 6.5 · Coherence 6.5
Dense data pushes candidates into "Japan was 42, Korea was 38, China was 31, India was 22" — a run-on that is punctuation-poor and structurally identical from end to end. Grammatical Range is assessed on variety, and this has none.
Fix: Convert the list into a ranked sentence with a subordinate clause: "Japan led at 42%, followed by Korea and China, with India some twenty points behind."
Table questions — frequently asked
How many of the numbers should I actually use?
About six for the whole report. Choose them before writing: the biggest, the smallest, the biggest change, and three that demonstrate your overview. A report that quotes six and compares all six scores higher than one that quotes twenty-five.
Where do I find the overview in a table?
Three places, in this order. The totals or average row, if there is one. The extremes — the biggest and smallest figures anywhere in the grid. And the direction every row moves in. If none of those gives you a sentence true of the whole table, keep looking before you write.
How do I calculate a percentage change correctly?
Divide the change by the STARTING value. From 380 to 620 is a change of 240 on a base of 380, so roughly 63% — say "almost two thirds higher". It is not a 240% rise, and it is not 63 percentage points; points only apply when both figures are already percentages.
The columns are countries, not years. What changes?
Everything trend-related goes. Nothing rose or fell, so the report is pure comparison: rank the rows, size the gaps, and name the outlier. Using "increased" here reports a change that never happened.
Next
Once this type is at Band 8, move to another — Line graph, Bar chart, Pie chart — or check a full essay you have written in the Essay Checker
Go deeper on Task 2
- Band 9 vs Band 6.5 sample answersThe same question answered twice, compared criterion by criterion
- How IELTS Writing is markedWhat each of the four criteria actually rewards
- More Task 2 questionsA large bank of practice prompts by topic
- Timed writing mock testTask 1 and Task 2 in 60 minutes, marked like the exam