Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The line graph illustrates the information about the proportion of urban population in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia from 1970 to 2020. Furthermore, it also presents a prediction of future about the estimated population in these regions.

Overall, the population size in urban areas of all countries has significantly improved over years. While the most striking rise occured in Malaysian population and is expected to hit the maximum in upcoming years. Whereas, the Thailand urban cities population showed the minimum number of population size.

From 1970 to 2020, the urbanisation rapidly increased in Malaysia and Indonesia while Thailand and Philippines faced some up and downs throughout the time period. The Philippines population rose from 30% in 1970 to 45% 1990, then dropped back to 40% by the end of time. Likewise, the proportion of Indonesia preptuate from 19% to 28% by 1990 and remained constant till 2020.

Based in the population rates, all the cities are expected to be more populated in future with 80% of Malaysian population living in cities followed by 55% of Indonesia. In addition, the proportion of Thailand and Philippines are expected to be in-between 45 to 55%>

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the overall upward trend and note Malaysia’s particularly strong growth, and you include both historical data and forecasts. However, several key details are inaccurate or unclear: the Philippines rises to about 48% in 1990, not 45%, and is around 45.5% in 2020 rather than 40%. Indonesia increases from about 14% to 25% by 1990 and continues rising to 52% in 2020; it does not remain constant after 1990. The overview also calls Thailand the lowest, which is true for much of the period but not a sufficient comparison of the final rankings. Report the main turning points and compare the countries more precisely, especially in the overview and forecast.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable four-part structure: introduction, overview, historical details and forecasts. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the information, and phrases such as “From 1970 to 2020” help signal a shift to the data. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by unclear or mechanical links. “Whereas” begins a fragment after the overview sentence, and “Likewise” introduces Indonesia even though its trend differs from the preceding Philippines description. The final paragraph groups forecasts but gives little comparison of the countries’ relative positions. Use complete, connected sentences and organise the body around clear comparisons, such as the strongest growth and the lower urbanisation figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “urban population,” “prediction,” and “increased,” so the topic is generally clear. There is also an attempt to vary wording rather than repeat “percentage” throughout. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing a graph: “population size in urban areas … improved,” “hit the maximum,” and “urban cities population” do not express the intended trends precisely. “Preptuate” is misspelled, and “up and downs” is not the correct form. These errors make some descriptions less clear and limit the precision expected in a data summary. Prefer standard trend language such as “the share living in cities rose,” “reached a peak,” and “fluctuated.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including a time clause in “While the most striking rise occurred…” and a comparison introduced by “while.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some sentence structures are incomplete or awkward. “Whereas the Thailand urban cities population showed…” is a fragment, and “While the most striking rise occurred…” is also left without a main clause. There are also errors in articles and sentence patterns, as in “the proportion of Thailand and Philippines are expected,” where the subject and verb do not agree and the country names need appropriate grammatical framing. Check that each sentence has a complete main clause, and review agreement and article use when naming countries and proportions.

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