Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-04

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 multiple line graph tracks the information regarding the percentage of the population living in four different cities from 1970 to 2020 and a prediction of next two decades. All the data is provided in percentage.

Overall, Malaysia is highly populated city over the given period and Thailand is least populated city as compared to other cities.

In 1970, Philippines and Malaysia had almost same percentage of population which was 30% and Indonesia had lowest population which was 15%. Followed by, 1990, population of philippines was at it peak at 50% and a rise is noticed in malaysia and reached at 45% along with this thailand and indonesia had a stable growth.

By next decade, there is a rise in population of malaysia and fall in philippines population, moreover, thailand and indonesia have same number of population. In 2020, there is rise in population of malaysia and indonesia and reach at 70% and 50% respectively simultaneously thailand had decline with 30%.By 2040 it is prediced that malaysia will have the highest population at 80% and thailabd will have lowest population at 48%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad pattern that Malaysia rises to become the most urbanised country, and you include an overview and several comparisons. However, the overview is not fully accurate: Thailand is not the least throughout, since Indonesia is lower until the later years, and Thailand remains below the Philippines in 2040. Some figures and trends are also misreported. For example, the Philippines peaks at about 48% in 1990, not 50%, while Malaysia is about 76% in 2020 rather than 70%. Thailand does not decline in 2020; it edges up to around 34%. The account also omits the important rapid growth in Indonesia and gives limited coverage of the forecast period. Select the main trends more carefully and support them with accurate comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overall statement, and chronological details. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is sometimes mechanical, with repeated time-led openings such as “In 1970,” “By next decade,” and “In 2020,” rather than grouping the countries by their trends. Some links are unclear or awkward, particularly “Followed by, 1990” and the long sentence beginning “By next decade,” which combines several comparisons without clear boundaries. The overview also makes the later details harder to follow because its claim about Thailand being the least populated is not consistently true. Organise the body around contrasting trends and use clearer sentence boundaries and references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “percentage,” “rise,” “fall,” “prediction,” and “highest,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or unnatural for describing urbanisation. “Highly populated city” and “least populated city” confuse the proportion living in cities with the size of a city’s population; “population … had a stable growth” is also imprecise. Spelling errors such as “prediced” and “thailabd,” along with inconsistent capitalisation of country names, reduce control. Aim for precise terms such as “urban population share,” “increased steadily,” and “remained the lowest,” and check spelling and country-name capitalisation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to connect ideas using clauses and sequencing phrases, but the range of sentence structures is limited and complex attempts are often faulty. Examples include “Followed by, 1990,” which lacks a complete grammatical construction, and “By 2040 it is prediced that Malaysia will have,” where the passive reporting structure is not formed correctly. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and verb forms in “Malaysia is highly populated city” and “population … reached at 70%.” Punctuation is inconsistent: the sentence ending “30%.By 2040” needs a space and clearer separation. These errors sometimes make relationships between figures difficult to interpret. Practise accurate comparative sentences and check each clause for a subject and correctly formed verb.

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