Band 7+: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The table shows the Proportions of Pupils Attending Four Secondary School Types Between Between 2000 and 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

The table illustrates the percentage of school children attending four different types of secondary school from 2000 to 2009.

Overall, the community schools experienced a marked increase in the proportion of those attending their institutions over the period, whereas the others saw a corresponding decline throughout the period given.

To begin, the percentage of pupils in voluntary-controlled schools fell from just over a half to only 20% or one fifth from 2000 to 2009. The relative proportion of children in grammar schools – just under one quarter – dropped by half in the same period. As for the specialist schools, the relatively small percentage of pupils attending this type of school also fell slightly to 10%.

However, the other three types of schools declined in importance, the opposite was seen in the case of community schools. Although only a small minority of 12% was educated in these schools in 2000, this figure increased to well over a half of all pupils during the following nine years.