Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-20

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 4.0)

The graph illustrates the portion of the people's living in cities among four Asian nations from 1970 to 2020 also with a predictionsfor the 2030 and 2040.

Overall, Malaysia and Indonesia indicate a uprising trend and Malaysia peaking with largest proportion of population in the year 2040. Thailand with upward trend becoming the last at the end of the year.

In 1970, Malaysia had the second position of its total population about 30 milllion over the year its growing aviation leading it at the end of the year 2040 with over 80 millions of people. Indonesia was the last in position in the year 1970 with nearly 14 millions at the end of the year 2040 its holding second position with over 60 million os population.

In constant, Philippines leads in 1990 with nearly 50 millions but at the end of 2040 for downwarding trend its become third position. While Thailand hold 4 th position with

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to summarize the main trends in the graph, noting Malaysia and Indonesia's upward trajectory and the Philippines' fluctuating pattern. However, the student severely misinterprets the data by treating the vertical axis percentages as literal millions of people (e.g., writing 'about 30 million' for 30% and 'over 80 millions' for 83.5%). Furthermore, the overview is rather weak, and the response cuts off abruptly in the middle of a sentence at the end. Because the information is inaccurately reported as total population counts rather than percentages, the task is only partially addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay is poorly organized and fails to maintain a clear logical progression. While there is an attempt at an introduction and body paragraphs, the coherence breaks down completely due to confusing referencing and the incomplete final sentence. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as 'In constant' instead of 'In contrast'. Paragraphing is disrupted by the abrupt cut-off at the end, and overall, the structural flow makes the text difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary range is very basic and heavily flawed. The student uses inappropriate phrasing like 'portion of the people's living' and 'uprising trend' instead of 'upward trend'. There are significant lexical inaccuracies, most notably confusing percentages with population numbers ('millions of people'). Word formation and spelling errors are also present, such as 'predictionsfor' and 'downwarding'. Communication is frequently impeded by incorrect word choices.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the text. The response contains numerous serious errors, such as 'Malaysia and Indonesia indicate a uprising trend and Malaysia peaking with largest proportion', lacking proper verb forms and clause structure. Prepositional and article errors are common (e.g., 'at the end of the year'). Furthermore, the sentence structures are frequently incomplete or malformed, and the response ends prematurely mid-sentence. Complex structures are attempted but are poorly executed, resulting in frequent errors that hinder comprehension.

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

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