W47: Task 1 written live in 20 minutes

In this lesson, we write a full Task 1 answer in real time, minute by minute. You'll see exactly what happens in each part of the 20 minutes, from reading the chart to the final check. For a video, put a timer on screen and talk through your thinking as you type.

The task

The chart shows the percentage of households in a country that owned three types of device in 2005, 2015 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

(For your video, draw this as a grouped bar chart.)

Minutes 0 to 3: Read and find the story

My thinking, out loud:

• "Three devices, three years. It's a bar chart with time, so I'll use trend language."
• "Smartphones: huge growth, 5% to 95%. That's the headline."
• "Computers: steady growth, 20% to 60%."
• "TV: high and stable, then a slight fall. Interesting: TV was top in 2005, but smartphones overtook it."

Minute 3 to 4: Plan

• Intro: paraphrase.
• Overview: smartphones and computers rose; TV stable then fell; smartphones became the most common device.
• Body 1: smartphones (the biggest story), compared with TV.
• Body 2: computers.

Minutes 4 to 17: Write

The bar chart illustrates the proportion of households in one country that owned a television, a computer and a smartphone in 2005, 2015 and 2025.

Overall, ownership of smartphones and computers rose considerably over the twenty-year period, while television ownership remained high but fell slightly at the end. The most striking change was the rise of the smartphone, which went from being the least common device to the most common.

In 2005, only 5% of households had a smartphone, compared with 85% that owned a television. Smartphone ownership then grew rapidly, reaching 60% in 2015 and an almost universal 95% by 2025. Television ownership, by contrast, changed little, rising slightly to 88% in 2015 before dropping to 80% in the final year, which meant that it had been overtaken by smartphones.

Computer ownership also increased steadily throughout the period. One in five households owned a computer in 2005, a figure that more than doubled to 45% in 2015 and reached 60% by 2025. However, computers remained the least common of the three devices at the end of the period.

(About 190 words.)

Minutes 17 to 20: Check

My checklist:

• Overview present? Yes, paragraph 2.
• Numbers correct? Check each against the table. 5, 85, 60, 95, 88, 80, 20, 45, 60. All correct.
• Grammar: articles (a television, the smartphone), verb tenses (past simple for past years).
• Word count: about 190. Safe.

What to notice

• The overview was written before any detailed numbers.
• The biggest story (smartphones) came first.
• Comparisons inside sentences: compared with 85% that owned a television.
• Varied language for numbers: one in five, almost universal, more than doubled.

Try it yourself

Write this task yourself in 20 minutes before reading the model. Then compare.

Honest note

When you first try this, you'll probably need 25 or 30 minutes. That's normal. Speed comes from repeating the same process many times.

Your task today

Do one Task 1 from a Cambridge book with a strict 20-minute timer, following the same minute-by-minute plan.