Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-26

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)

This diagram illustarte that the production electricy from geothermal enery by using cold water then passes throug the differnt procedure with multiple equipments

Overall, this picture clearly show comolete production of electricty through geothermal energy cold water tranfer to make steam then they start turbine at the end gernator ptoduce electricty.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response3.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the general subject—electricity production using geothermal energy—and mention cold water, steam, a turbine and a generator. However, the response gives only a very brief, unclear account of the process and omits its defining stages: water is pumped 4.5 km down the injection well, heated as it passes through hot rocks, and returned to the surface through the production well before steam drives the turbine. The overview also does not clearly summarise the complete sequence. The task requires at least 150 words, but this response contains 51, so it is substantially underlength and cannot report the main features adequately. To improve, describe each stage in order and include the key transformation from cold water to hot water and then steam.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response into an opening statement and an overview, with “Overall” signalling a summary. The ideas also follow a broad process direction, from cold water to steam and then to the generator. However, the two sentences are difficult to follow because several stages are compressed together, and the links between them are not clearly expressed. For example, “cold water tranfer to make steam then they start turbine” does not explain how the water moves through the wells or how steam powers the turbine. Use separate, logically ordered sentences for the underground and surface stages, and connect them with clear sequencing language such as “first,” “afterwards,” and “finally.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant process vocabulary, including “geothermal energy,” “cold water,” “steam,” “turbine,” and “generator,” so the reader can recognise the topic. However, the range is very limited for describing the diagram, and several spelling errors—such as “illustarte,” “electricy,” “enery,” and “gernator”—make the writing less clear. Some expressions are also imprecise: “multiple equipments” is not a natural way to describe the labelled machinery, while “start turbine” does not accurately convey that steam powers it. Build a more precise vocabulary set for the stages, including “injection well,” “production well,” “hot rocks,” “is converted into steam,” and “drives the turbine.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt two complete sentences and use a basic overview structure, but grammatical control is uneven. In “This diagram illustarte that the production electricy …,” the clause after “that” is incomplete and lacks a clear verb structure. The second sentence, “Overall, this picture clearly show …,” has subject–verb disagreement, and its sequence of ideas is joined without clear grammatical boundaries. The response also relies on simple sentence patterns rather than showing a range of structures. Practise writing one clear sentence for each stage, checking that every clause has a subject and verb and that singular subjects take singular verbs—for example, “The generator produces electricity.”

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