The library in the digital age
A Task 1 table report and a Task 2 agree-or-disagree essay, written, self-assessed, and shown beside the Band 7.5+ models I wrote.
How to use this. Write both tasks in the boxes below, Task 1 in twenty minutes, Task 2 in forty, as in the real test. When you've finished, open Self-assessment to mark your own work against the four criteria and compare it with the Band 7.5+ models I wrote for each task. You can download a copy of everything to keep. For a person to mark your writing against the criteria, the first lesson includes one marked Task 2.
Describe the table.
Recommended 20 minutes · at least 150 words
The table below shows the percentage of people in four age groups who used a public library at least once in the previous year, in a particular country, in 2005, 2012 and 2019.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| Age group | 2005 | 2012 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 62% | 51% | 40% |
| 18 to 34 | 48% | 39% | 28% |
| 35 to 54 | 41% | 38% | 34% |
| 55 and over | 33% | 35% | 37% |
Write the essay.
Recommended 40 minutes · at least 250 words · carries twice the marks
It is sometimes argued that public libraries have become unnecessary. Because almost all of the information a library once held, from newspapers and reference works to novels and academic articles, is now available instantly online, some people believe that maintaining physical libraries is no longer a good use of public money.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Mark your own work.
Be honest with yourself against the four criteria, the same four an examiner uses. Then read the model answers and see exactly what moves a response up a band.
Task Response
Coherence & Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Where marks are lost, and the models I wrote
What usually holds a table report at 6.5. Table answers rarely lose marks on the data itself; they lose them on selection. The most common pattern is a run through every cell in turn with no overview, or an overview so vague (the numbers went up and down) that it names no real trend. Precision slips follow: a percentage point reported as a percentage, fell at for fell to, and repeated agreement errors with per cent and group.
The target · Band 7.5+ · modelThe table gives the percentage of people in four age groups who reported using a public library at least once in the previous year, at three points between 2005 and 2019. Overall, library use fell in every group except the oldest, and the decline was steepest among the young, so that an age pattern clear in 2005 had largely reversed by 2019. At the start of the period, usage decreased steadily with age, from 62% of those under 18 to just 33% of the over-55s. The two youngest groups then fell the furthest: use among under-18s dropped by 22 percentage points to 40%, while the 18-to-34 group declined most sharply in proportional terms, from 48% to 28%. The 35-to-54 group changed comparatively little, easing from 41% to 34%. The over-55s were the sole exception, rising modestly from 33% to 37%, so that by 2019 the oldest group, once the least likely to use libraries, did so more often than the 18-to-34s.
Why it scores. An overview stated up front and reinforced (decline everywhere except the oldest group, sharpest among the young), figures selected rather than listed, and a genuine comparison, the reversal of the age pattern, that a 6.5 typically gestures at but does not name.
What usually holds an agree/disagree essay at 6.5. The most common shortfall is position. The essay lists points for and against but never commits to an answer, or states a view in the introduction and then drifts away from it. The other recurring limiters are paragraphs that read as lists rather than developed arguments, and comma splices where two full clauses are joined with only a comma.
The target · Band 7.5+ · model paragraphsA body paragraph that commits to a position and develops it. The strongest reason to keep libraries is that they offer far more than information. For many people, particularly those on low incomes or without a reliable connection at home, the library is the only place where a computer, a quiet desk and a knowledgeable member of staff are all freely available. A teenager revising for examinations, a jobseeker completing an online application, and an older resident learning to use a device each depend on something the open internet does not provide. To judge a library only by the facts it lends is to overlook the space, the guidance and the equal access that give it its real value.
A conclusion that restates the position. In conclusion, while it is true that information itself is now abundant online, I firmly disagree that this makes libraries obsolete. Their role has shifted rather than disappeared: they remain essential as public spaces that guarantee access, support and a sense of community to precisely those people who would otherwise be left behind.
Why it scores. The position is unmistakable and held to, each paragraph builds a single idea to a point rather than listing, and the conclusion restates the stance cleanly, the three moves a 6.5 most often misses.
These are models I wrote for this paper, set beside the errors that most often hold a response at Band 6.5. The band-6.5 description is a common pattern, not a real student's script. In a lesson, one of your own Task 2s is marked the same way, against the four criteria.
Take your work with you.
Download your two answers alongside the target models, so you can revise them later or bring them to a lesson.
That's the latest paper. Browse them all: all writing papers.
Send a task. Get it back marked.
A paper tells you the question. It can’t tell you why your answer sits at 6.5.
Write your response to the Task 2 above and send it to me. I’ll mark it in detail against the four assessment criteria and return it to you annotated, line by line, so you can see exactly where the band is sitting and what is holding it down. Written work is handled this way around the lessons, sent over and returned marked between sessions, which keeps the fifty minutes themselves free for speaking. The first lesson is a full assessment. Regular lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English.