Karthik from Chennai faced a table with 24 numbers and tried to include each one. He ran out of time at number 17.

Tables give you many figures and no picture, so your job is to select: find the highest, lowest and biggest changes, and anything unusual, then group the rest. You don’t need to mention each number.

How do you scan a table?

Spend part of your three planning minutes on four checks:

  • the title, the row and column headings, and the unit;
  • the highest and lowest figure in each column;
  • the biggest gaps between rows or between years;
  • any figure that breaks the pattern.

In the practice table below, the highest figures sit in the City A row and the lowest in the City E row, so the cities can be ranked. Your overview then comes from these checks, as our post on writing an overview explains.

What are key features?

The task instruction asks you to select and report the main features. The public band descriptors do not define “key features”, but they say what to do with them.

At Band 6 the selected features are covered and adequately highlighted, and the information is supported by figures. At Band 7 they are clearly highlighted, and the data are appropriately categorised. The Band 6 descriptor also notes that some details may be missing or excessive, so choosing which figures to include matters.

Practice with invented data

Practice task (written for this post)

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below shows the average travel time to work, in minutes, by car, bus and train in five cities in Country A.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Invented data for practice:

City Car (minutes) Bus (minutes) Train (minutes)
City A 48 56 32
City B 45 52 30
City C 38 44 28
City D 32 39 24
City E 26 31 20

How do you group the data?

A table can be grouped by columns (the types of transport) or by rows (the cities). Here, one detail paragraph compares the three types of transport, and the other compares the cities. Your comparison structures do the linking.

Either way, you move through the table by pattern, not cell by cell, and two grouped paragraphs are quicker to plan than five paragraphs about single cities.

Model answer (illustrative Band 7)

The table compares average travel times to work, in minutes, by car, bus and train in five cities in Country A.

Overall, bus trips were the slowest and train trips the fastest in every city, with car trips in between. City A had the longest travel times and City E the shortest, whatever the type of transport.

Bus journeys were the slowest across all cities, taking between 31 and 56 minutes. By comparison, trains were quicker and more consistent, ranging from just 20 minutes in City E to 32 minutes in City A. Car travel times lay between the two modes, from 48 minutes in City A down to 26 in City E.

The difference between bus and train times was largest in City A, at 24 minutes, and smallest in City E, at 11 minutes. City B, with 52 minutes by bus and 30 by train, was close to City A, while Cities C and D, with bus trips of 44 and 39 minutes, formed a middle group.

Why it works:

  • Task Achievement: the overview names the slowest and fastest transport and the longest and shortest cities, and the details select ranges and gaps instead of reading each cell.
  • Coherence and Cohesion: paragraph three compares the types of transport, and paragraph four compares the cities.
  • Lexical Resource: “ranging from”, “quicker and more consistent” and “formed a middle group” vary the comparisons.
  • Grammatical Range and Accuracy: comparatives and participle phrases such as “with 52 minutes by bus” are used accurately.

Incorrect: “In City A the bus took 56 minutes, the car took 48 minutes, and in City B the bus took 52 minutes.”

Correct: The bus was the slowest option in each city, ranging from 31 minutes in City E to 56 minutes in City A.

Tip

Note the highest and lowest figure in each column before you plan your two detail paragraphs.

Key Takeaways

  • Scan for the highest, lowest, biggest gaps and anything unusual.
  • Select the figures that support each key feature.
  • Group by columns or by rows into two detail paragraphs.
  • Keep the clearest pattern for the overview, without figures.

The bottom line: Before you write a figure, ask which key feature it supports, and leave it out if the answer is none.