Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-15

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 5.0)

The graph illustrates information about the proportion of the population in Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia from 1970 to 2020, with predictions for 2030 and 2040.

Overall, it can be observed that the four countries had an increase along the years, subsequently in the year 2000 Indonesia and Thailand had the same percentage of total population. Consequently, Philippines and Indonesia recorded the same population in the year 2010. However, the highest forcasted population was for people living Malaysia while the lowest was Thailand.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the countries and time span, and your overview attempts to highlight comparisons, including Malaysia as the highest forecast and Thailand as the lowest. However, the response is far too brief to summarise the graph adequately: it contains 73 words, below the required 150, and therefore omits most of the key trends and supporting figures. The claim that all four countries increased throughout is inaccurate, since the Philippines fell after 1990 before rising again. Your comparison for 2000 is accurate, but the statement that the Philippines and Indonesia had the same percentage in 2010 is not: their figures were about 42.5% and 43%, respectively, so they were close rather than equal. Report the main changes with accurate comparisons and data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure, with an introductory sentence followed by an overview, and the ideas are generally understandable. However, there is too little information to create a clear progression through the graph’s main stages or to group the countries meaningfully. The overview also strings together several comparisons using “subsequently,” “Consequently,” and “However,” but these links do not always express the relationships accurately; for example, the 2010 figures are close, not identical. Develop separate body paragraphs that compare the countries’ trends, and use linking expressions only where their logical meaning fits. This would make the organisation more coherent and the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some appropriate task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “predictions,” “percentage,” and “recorded,” and the meaning is mostly recoverable. However, the range is limited, with repeated reliance on “population” and “percentage,” and some word combinations are unnatural or imprecise. For example, “had an increase along the years” is not a natural way to describe a trend, while “the highest forecasted population” confuses the share of people living in cities with the population itself. “Forecasted” is also misspelled as “forcasted.” Use precise trend language such as “rose,” “declined,” and “remained stable,” and refer to the “urban population share” or “proportion living in cities.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You produce a few complete sentences and attempt more complex structures, particularly in the overview. However, grammatical control is uneven. In “the four countries had an increase along the years,” the phrasing and construction are faulty; a clearer pattern would be “the proportion increased over the period.” The sentence beginning “subsequently in the year 2000” also has an awkwardly placed introductory phrase, and “the highest forecasted population was for people living Malaysia” lacks the preposition needed before “Malaysia.” The final sentence is a fragment-like comparison rather than a fully controlled statement. Practise accurate comparative sentence patterns and check articles, prepositions, and sentence boundaries while retaining the attempt to vary structures.

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