IELTS Writing Task 1 Table: Band 7 Template + Sample Answer (2026)

Last updated: August 2026.

Quick answer: A table in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is scored on the same four criteria as every other Task 1 visual: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The Band 7 move is to group and compare the figures rather than list every cell. Use a four-paragraph structure — introduction, overview, and two grouped body paragraphs — and support every claim with specific numbers. Check your band target against the official Writing band descriptors.

Why tables trip people up

A table hands you more raw numbers than any other Task 1 visual and gives you no built-in shape to follow. There is no line to trace, no slice to compare. That is exactly why weak answers read like a spreadsheet being read aloud: "Category A was 20, category B was 35, category C was 12…" That approach caps you at Band 5-6 no matter how accurate the numbers are, because the examiner is looking for selection and grouping, not transcription.

The fix is to impose structure on the table yourself. Before you write a word, decide which rows or columns belong together and what the single biggest pattern is. That decision becomes your overview and your two body paragraphs.

The Band 7 table template

Paragraph 1 — Introduction (1 sentence)

Paraphrase the prompt. Change the wording, keep the meaning, and name what the table shows and when.

The table [compares / illustrates / gives information about] [the data] [in / between] [time or group].

Paragraph 2 — Overview (1-2 sentences, no specific figures)

State the biggest-picture pattern: which figure is highest, which is lowest, and the main contrast. This paragraph is what separates a Band 6 from a Band 7 — the descriptors explicitly reward "a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages."

Overall, [the highest category / group] recorded the largest figures across the period, whereas [the lowest] remained the smallest. [A second high-level pattern.]

Paragraph 3 — Body 1 (grouped detail with figures)

Take your first group of related rows or columns and compare them, using exact numbers and units.

Paragraph 4 — Body 2 (grouped detail with figures)

Do the same for the remaining data, drawing out the clearest contrasts between groups or over time.

How to group a table

Choose whichever of these gives the cleanest split for your specific table:

• By size — group the large figures together and the small figures together.
• By category type — for example, group all the "food" rows against all the "transport" rows.
• Over time — group what increased against what decreased between the columns.
• By region or group — compare one country/group's row against another's.

You only need two groups, one per body paragraph. If the table has an obvious "total" row or column, mention it in the overview, not buried in the detail.

Full sample Band 7 answer

Prompt: The table shows the percentage of household income spent on three categories (housing, food, and leisure) in four countries in 2020.

Country	Housing	Food	Leisure
Country A	38%	22%	12%
Country B	25%	34%	8%
Country C	41%	18%	15%
Country D	30%	28%	10%

The table compares the proportion of household income that families in four countries — A, B, C, and D — allocated to housing, food, and leisure in 2020.

Overall, housing was the single largest expense in every country except B, where food took the biggest share. Leisure consistently attracted the smallest proportion of spending across all four nations.

In terms of housing, Country C households spent the most, dedicating 41% of their income to it, closely followed by Country A at 38%. Country D and Country B allocated noticeably less, at 30% and 25% respectively. Food showed the opposite pattern in Country B, where it was the leading expense at 34%, well above the 18% recorded in Country C.

Leisure spending was low and fairly uniform, ranging from just 8% in Country B to 15% in Country C. Combining housing and food, households in Countries A and C committed roughly 60% of their income to these two essentials, leaving little for discretionary spending, whereas Country B's more even split across food and housing left a comparable total.

Word count: 182

Comparison language that lifts your Lexical Resource score

Tables live and die on comparison, so vary it:

• Larger: the highest / the largest share, well above, more than double, the leading category
• Smaller: the lowest / the smallest proportion, well below, only / just, a fraction of
• Similar: comparable to, roughly the same as, broadly in line with, fairly uniform
• Precise contrast: closely followed by, in contrast, whereas, by comparison

Use "proportion," "share," and "percentage" when the table is in percentages, and "figure," "number," or "amount" when it reports totals. Mixing these up is a common Lexical Resource slip.

Common table mistakes

• Listing every cell instead of grouping — the single biggest Band 6 ceiling.
• No overview, or an overview stuffed with specific numbers (keep the figures in the body).
• Inconsistent tense — pick the tense that matches the prompt's time frame and hold it.
• Adding opinion or reasons ("this is because…"). Task 1 is description only; save analysis for Task 2.
• Under 150 words, which is penalised automatically.

Once you can group and compare cleanly, the same skeleton works for every Task 1 visual. See the matching Band 7 templates for the bar chart, line graph, and pie chart, and the broader Task 1 tips for Band 7. To check which band your practice answers are landing at, review the official Writing band descriptors.