Band 7+: The charts below show the proportion of expenditure by students, on average, at one university, in 2000 and 2010. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The two bar graphs illustrate information about the proportion of average expenditure on seven areas by students at one university in 2010 compared with in 2000.

It is noticeable that the two biggest areas for expenditure-food and utilities-between them accounted for over half the total outlay in both years, whereas holiday spending consistently remained the lowest among students.

However, it is also worth noting that, the proportion of spending on utilities increased slightly from 21 to 27%, while figures for food and drink stood at 29%. Moreover, eating out made up a higher percentage, rising from 4% to 8%.

Another striking change was the proportion of spending on clothing: this went down, dropping from 16% to just 5%. Three other areas saw no or hardly any alterations. The proportion of expenditure on sports and cultural activities stayed stable level, at 17% in 2010 as in 2000, while spending on transport rose by 1% to 9%. The percentage of spending on holidays remained exactly the same, at 5%.