Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-30

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 below gives information about the percentage of the population in four Asian countries living in cities from 1970 to 2020, with predictions for 2030 to 2040. I will make the comparision of this in the fourtcoming paragraph.

This chart shows the four countries data of population percentage.The countries that is Philippines,Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia in the chart.According to the chart the one think is clear that the population of the people is increasing by the day.The percentage is only gone towards the up not the down,aspect only in Philippines from 1990 to 2010.

In this four countries the two countries has less speed of growing population but on other two has a massive growth of increasing population.The slow growth population countries is Philippines and Thailand and the other fast growing countries is Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Philippines has decreases the population in 1990 to 2020 according to the chart and the Thailand is also has slow speed of population in 1990 to 2020.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the four countries and makes a broad attempt to compare their trends, noting that the Philippines fluctuates while Malaysia and Indonesia grow more strongly. However, the overview is too general and includes an inaccurate claim: the Philippines does not simply decrease from 1990 to 2020, since its figure rises again after 2010. The response also misses key comparisons, such as Malaysia ending highest and Indonesia showing the strongest sustained rise. Several statements about “slow” and “fast” growth are not supported with figures. The response is 138 words, below the 150-word minimum; 26 words copied from the task prompt were not counted. Add accurate key figures and a clearer overview of the main differences.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is some basic organisation: the response moves from an introduction to general trends, then compares groups of countries and adds a final comment. This gives the reader a rough sense of the intended discussion. However, progression is limited because ideas are repeated rather than developed; the claim that some countries grow slowly and others quickly is followed by similar statements without supporting details. Connections between sentences are also unclear in places, particularly “The countries that is Philippines,Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia in the chart.” Paragraphing is present but does not yet organise a clear sequence of overview and specific comparisons. Use distinct paragraphs for the overview and the main data comparisons, and link each comparison to a relevant figure.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small range of topic vocabulary, including “percentage,” “population,” “increasing,” and “growth,” so the general subject is usually understandable. However, wording is repetitive and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “massive growth of increasing population,” “slow speed of population,” and “the one think is clear.” “Comparision” is also misspelled, and “fourtcoming” is not an appropriate word in this context. These choices make the report sound less precise and sometimes obscure whether you mean urbanisation or population growth. Use accurate trend language such as “the proportion living in cities,” “rose steadily,” “increased sharply,” and “remained relatively stable,” while avoiding repeated use of “population” where “urban share” is clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple and longer sentence forms, and the main topic can generally be followed. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, especially with subject–verb agreement, articles, and verb forms. Examples include “The countries that is,” “the two countries has,” and “the Philippines has decreases.” The sentence “The percentage is only gone towards the up not the down” also has an unclear construction, while punctuation and spacing are inconsistent, as in “percentage.The” and “Philippines,Malaysia.” These errors recur across the response and make some relationships difficult to understand. Practise accurate past-tense descriptions of historical data and future forms for predictions, and check agreement in each clause. Short, correctly formed comparisons would improve clarity before adding more complex structures.

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.