Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-16

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 4.5)

The line graphs shows different Asian countries population over the years. In 1970 the population of the Philippines is 32 million, after 10 years the population increases minutly and reaches yo 33 million then after a decade the population increases suddenly and reaches 50 million. The next two decades the population decrease gradually and at the end of 2010 the population were 40 million. The last three decades the population grow at a very slow pace and reaches 52 million. The Malaysia population were at 30 million in the start of 1970 then increases fastly to 40 million in a decade. The next ten year the growth rate slows down and population reaches 42 million and then sudden growth in the population in the 2000. Then the population grow gradually and reaches 80 million at the end of 2040. The Thailand population was at 18 million in 1970 and then increases slowly and reaches the 27 million at the end of two decades. After twenty years the growth was very little and the population reaches to 29 million and at the end of the year 2020the population remains the same. At last two decades the population increases gradually and approches 50 million. Lastly the Indonesia population started with 14 million in 1970 and increases steadily and reaches 25 million at the end of two decades. The last four decades the population growth smoothly and approched to 58 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The student has fundamental misunderstandings regarding the nature of the data provided in the chart. The prompt and graph clearly state that the vertical axis measures the 'Percentage (%) of total population' living in cities, yet the student consistently interprets and reports these figures as total population counts in millions (e.g., 'the population of the Philippines is 32 million'). Consequently, the data reported are factually incorrect based on the visual source. Furthermore, the overall trend is misread, and the response fails to provide an effective overview or make meaningful comparisons between the four countries. While all countries are mentioned, the misunderstanding of percentages as absolute population numbers severely undermines task fulfillment.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.5

The text is presented as one massive block paragraph, which lacks appropriate paragraphing. Cohesive devices are extremely basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple temporal connectors like 'then', 'after 10 years', and 'lastly'. The logical progression is also hindered by the factual misinterpretation of the data. While the response moves sequentially through time for each country, the overall organization is clumsy and fails to create a clear, coherent overview of the main trends or meaningful comparisons between nations.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, heavily reliant on simple verbs such as 'increases', 'reaches', and 'decreases'. There are also awkward word choices and non-standard collocations, such as 'increases minutly', 'increases fastly', and 'growth smoothly'. Spelling errors are present, including 'minutly', 'approches', and 'approched'. The lexical range is barely adequate for the task, and the persistent misuse of vocabulary related to percentages and population counts restricts the score to this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent errors in tense usage, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions, such as 'The line graphs shows', 'the population decreases... reaches yo', and 'at the start of 1970'. Punctuation is also neglected, notably missing a period in '2020the population'. Although some simple sentences are grammatically acceptable, the density of errors and awkward phrasing impacts readability.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.