Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-16

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows how geothermal energy is used to produce electricity.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The diagram illustrates shows how the geothermic energy is used to produce electricity Overall this is five step used to generate geothermal energy first is cold water next is the injection well, third is the production well, four us condenser and the last is generat turbine

in detail, it is evident first one is cold water give in the river because cold water pumped down they passed 4.5 kilometers in the injection well this is passed through geothermal zone in the production wethe four is condenser the production well hot water pumped up in the condenser made steam they pass generator turbine steam made powered by steam the generator mad by turbine and produce electricity and the last step is tower generator provide a electricity to tower and tower provide electricity to all home

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response attempts to summarise the main stages of the geothermal energy process, identifying key components such as cold water, the injection well, the production well, the condenser, and the turbine. However, the explanation is incomplete, poorly developed, and contains numerous inaccuracies in reading the diagram (for example, stating the cold water is given in a river, and confusing the condenser and turbine roles). Furthermore, the response falls significantly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 134 words. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, which heavily impacts the score under the official descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

Coherence and cohesion are severely hindered by a complete lack of proper punctuation, capitalisation, and paragraphing. The entire text reads as two giant run-on sentences, making the logical progression extremely difficult to follow. Although the writer attempts to use sequence markers ('first', 'next', 'third', 'four', 'the last'), they are mechanically applied and grammatically flawed ('four us condenser', 'generat turbine'). There is no effective referencing or structural organisation, resulting in a response that fails to meet the criteria for Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is extremely basic, repetitive, and plagued by word-formation errors and misspellings (e.g., 'geothermic' instead of geothermal, 'generat' instead of generator, 'wethe' instead of well). The student relies heavily on repeating words directly from the prompt. While there are a few attempts at topic-specific terms like 'electricity', 'turbine', and 'condenser', the lexical range is very limited, and frequent errors in word choice and spelling impede communication at times.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is extremely weak throughout the response. There is a complete absence of terminal punctuation and correct sentence boundaries, resulting in massive run-on structures. Simple and complex sentence forms are absent, replaced instead by fragmented clauses strung together without conjunctions ('cold water pumped down they passed 4.5 kilometers'). Errors in verb forms, tense, and sentence structure are pervasive and constantly cause comprehension difficulties for the reader, placing the response firmly in the lower band range.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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