Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-12
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below gives information about the percentage of the population in four Asian countries living in cities from 1970 to 2020, with predictions for 2030 and 2040. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
he line chart illustrtes the trends of proportion of the population in the philippines, Malaysia, Thaliand and Indonesia, over a time period of 5 decades from 1970 to 2020 with predictions for next 2 decades 2030 to 2040.
Overall, the Population of all countries have risen from 1970, specially Malaysia which remained the densly populated country among all four, throughout the period.However, The popoluation of Thailand and Malaysia had inclined steadly and predicted for gradual rise for next 20 years, whereas, the Philippines had observed a rise to slight pass Malaysian population in 1990.
In 1970, The philippines and Malaysia experienced highest population percentage of around 30%, while Thailand ranked second with nearly 20% followed by Indonesia at approximately 12%. In 1990, all asian countries experienced the increase in population, the Philipines recorded with almost 50% population just out pass the Malaysia at approximately 45% , before facing the gradual drop to 40% in 2010; however, as per forcast, it will be recovered to 50% in 2040.
In 2000, Malaysia observed the constant rise in population level at 60% and will continue climbing gradually to 80% by 2040. While, Thailand had rise consistantly from 1970 to 2020 and will be reached close to the Pilippines by 2040. Furthermore, Indonesia sharply became densly populated area from 2000 (25%) to 2020 (50%) and will continue climbing up till 2040 to become second largest population among these four countries.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main trends and making relevant comparisons across the four Asian countries from 1970 to 2040. The overview is present in the second paragraph, although it contains some confusion between population totals and the percentage of the urban population (e.g., referring to 'Population of all countries'). Key features such as Malaysia's consistently high urban percentage and Indonesia's sharp increase are highlighted, though some specific data points contain minor inaccuracies compared to the visual stimulus. Overall, the response addresses the prompt adequately, earning a band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into paragraphs with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing specific decades. However, the logical progression is occasionally hindered by mechanical or faulty cohesive devices and referencing errors, such as abrupt transitions between sentences and sentences that are overly dense with data. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs lacks smoothness. Overall, the organizational structure is coherent enough to follow, matching the band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student attempts a range of vocabulary appropriate for a data-trend task, including terms like 'proportion', 'trends', 'gradual rise', and 'forecast'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'illustrtes', 'Thaliand', 'densly', 'popoluation', 'inclined', 'steadly', and 'forcast'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they reflect a lack of control over less common lexical items, placing the response firmly at band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating clauses connected by 'whereas', 'although', and 'before'. However, grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors in capitalization, subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'Population of all countries have risen'), and preposition usage. Punctuation errors are also noticeable. Although meaning can generally be extracted, the density of grammatical mistakes prevents the score from reaching band 6.0, justifying a band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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