Pick out the main features of this table for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows spending on education and class sizes in five countries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Country | Spending (% of GDP) | Pupils per teacher | Graduates (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 6.4 | 13 | 48 |
| Japan | 3.2 | 16 | 53 |
| Brazil | 6 | 22 | 21 |
| India | 3.8 | 30 | 28 |
| Kazakhstan | 3 | 19 | 44 |
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
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Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The table compares spending on education, the number of pupils per teacher and the proportion of graduates in five countries.
Overall, there was no simple link between spending and results. Finland and Japan achieved high graduate rates with small classes, whereas Brazil spent heavily but produced the fewest graduates.
Finland devoted the largest share of national income to education, at 6.4% of GDP, and had the smallest classes, with 13 pupils per teacher. Its graduate rate was 48%. Japan spent only 3.2% of GDP and had 16 pupils per teacher, yet it recorded the highest graduate rate of all, at 53%.
Brazil spent 6% of GDP, almost as much as Finland, but had 22 pupils per teacher and only 21% of graduates, the lowest figure in the table. India spent 3.8% of GDP and had by far the largest classes, with 30 pupils per teacher, and a graduate rate of 28%.
Kazakhstan spent the least, at 3% of GDP, and its class sizes of 19 pupils per teacher were in the middle of the range. Nevertheless, its graduate rate of 44% was far higher than in Brazil or India.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| education spending | money on schools |
| class size | number of pupils per teacher |
| pupil-teacher ratio | children for each teacher |
| graduate rate | percentage finishing studies |
| despite | even though |
| closely related | strongly linked |
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