Tables

A table presents data and information in rows and columns. The space where a row and a column meet is a cell, and each cell holds one item of data. Because every value sits in a known place, a reader can find one value fast or compare a whole set, which makes a table quick to read and to analyse.

Organisations use tables wherever people need to look things up and compare them: a café price list, a staff rota, a stock record, a bus timetable or a month of sales figures. Written out in sentences, the same figures are hard to scan and easy to misread. A table lines them up, so one item is read across a row while the same field is compared down a column.

What makes a table clear

Every clear table starts with a title that says what the table shows and gives the context, such as the place or the time period. The row headings then name what each row is and the column headings name each field, so no reader has to guess what a cell means.

Café price list, summer 2026

Units go in the headings rather than beside every value: here each price column says (£), so no one confuses pounds with pence. The units stay the same all the way down, and every value in a column is the same kind of thing, so columns can be compared safely.

Ordering and summarising

Tables are organised logically. Related data is grouped together, rows are sorted into a sensible order — the drinks in the price list are alphabetical, though a stock list might be sorted by quantity so low items show first — and a totals row is added where it helps the reader. A total at the foot of a sales table gives the month's income at a glance, saving the reader from adding up the column and making a mistake.