Academic Task 1 model response to a question seen in the UK on 19 May 2012

The following tables depict the reliability of print and non-print academic materials as voiced by undergraduates and postgraduates at 3 different British universities.

Write a 150 word report for a university lecturer summarizing the information given.

The two charts illustrate the views of undergraduate and postgraduate students from 3 different British schools on the reliability of print and non-print academic resources.  Across all spectrums, students feel printed materials to be more reliable than their non-print counterparts.

75% of undergraduate students at Cambridge and 81% of undergraduate students at both Oxford and Leeds gauge printed material ‘reliable’.  These 3 figures are all lower than their postgraduate equivalents, who support printed materials in strengths of 92% at Oxford, 87% at Cambridge and 96% at Leeds. Thus, postgraduates are more likely to label printed material reliable than undergraduates at these 3 schools.

However, this trend is reversed when looking at backing for non-print academic sources.  The second chart depicts much weaker support for these resource types among undergraduates, namely 59% at Oxford, 63% at Cambridge and 61% at Leeds.  Even more astonishing are the numbers of postgraduates who feel positive about non-printed academic items.  These values are 50%, 54% and 47% for the same 3 schools.

The charts depict a trend in which positive opinions regarding the reliability of printed material move in tandem with academic level of study.