Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-27

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 percentage of population in four Asian countries living in cities from 1970 to 2020, with prediction for 2030 and 2040.

Overall, the diagram compare the percentage of population living in four different cities. The Asian cities are Philippines, Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia.

First of all, the graph show percentage of population in Indonesia is 15% in 1970

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the chart’s general subject and gives one relevant figure: Indonesia was about 15% in 1970, close to the chart’s approximate 14%. However, it stops before describing the main trends, comparing the four countries, or reporting the later years and forecasts. The overview is also inaccurate: the graph compares four countries, not “four different cities.” The response contains only 47 words, so it does not meet the required minimum of 150 words; this leaves the task substantially incomplete. To improve, provide a clear overview of the contrasting trends, then select key figures to compare—for example, Malaysia’s rise to the highest level and Indonesia’s strong growth.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening sentence is followed by an overview and then a detail introduced with “First of all.” This gives the reader a simple sequence, but the response ends after that single detail, so there is no developed progression or meaningful comparison. The overview repeats the topic rather than summarising the main features, and the link between the overview and the Indonesia figure is limited. Use separate paragraphs for an introduction, an overview, and grouped details, and connect comparisons explicitly with phrases such as “by contrast” or “while.” This would make the organisation more coherent and the relationships between data clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small set of relevant terms, including “percentage,” “population,” “graph,” and “prediction,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the vocabulary is repetitive and not always precise: “four different cities” mislabels the countries, while “the diagram” is less suitable than “the line graph.” The phrase “with prediction” is also awkward for describing future values. Because the response is very short, it offers little evidence of range or flexibility in describing trends and comparisons. Build a task-specific vocabulary set, such as “urban population,” “proportion,” “rose,” “declined,” and “was projected to,” and use these terms accurately in complete comparisons.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response includes simple sentence forms that communicate the broad topic, but grammatical control is uneven. For example, “the diagram compare” and “the graph show” have subject–verb agreement errors; “the percentage of population” is missing an article or possessive determiner, and “with prediction” needs an article or plural form. The final sentence fragment, “First of all, the graph show percentage of population in Indonesia is 15% in 1970,” also lacks a clear grammatical structure for introducing the figure. The limited number of sentences makes it difficult to demonstrate range. Practise accurate simple clauses first, then combine them using structures such as “while” and “whereas” to compare trends.

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