Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

 

The diagram below shows how a biofuel called ethanol is produced.

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The process chart illustration the information about biofuel production which is regarding how to produce ethanol.

I can clearly seen that there are several steps of biofuel production. first steps, plants and trees is grow in sunlight with energy, then second step is plant and tree grow after process is harvethen send to pre- processing machine and then transferred to cellulose for assessment and after that send to laboratories fir further processing and convert into sugars Moving further, next step is added microbes and separate ethanol, final step is ethanol convert inyo biof

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is severely under-length, containing only 93 words compared to the required 150-word minimum, which significantly impacts task completion. While the student attempts to describe the biofuel production process depicted in the chart, the description breaks down mid-way and trails off inconclusively at the end ('final step is ethanol convert inyo biof'). The overview of the process is weak and lacks proper synthesis of the main features shown in the diagram. Because the response is both under-length and incomplete, it fails to fully satisfy the requirements of Task Achievement, aligning with Band 4.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing and structural organization, appearing as a single short, run-on block of text. Although some basic sequential transitions are attempted, such as 'Moving further' and 'first steps', the overall progression is difficult to follow. Sentence boundaries are frequently blurred by missing punctuation, and the abrupt ending prevents any logical conclusion to the description. Cohesive devices are used mechanically and inaccurately, which places this response at Band 4.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, with noticeable word-form and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'harvethen', 'inyo', and 'biof'. The student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary from the prompt (e.g., 'biofuel', 'cellulose', 'sugars', 'microbes'), but general lack of control and incorrect word choices limit the range significantly. These errors occasionally strain the reader's understanding, consistent with Band 4.0 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. There are numerous foundational errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('plants and trees is grow'), fragmented sentence structures, and incorrect verb forms ('ethanol convert'). Complex sentence forms are either absent or attempted with severe structural errors. The high frequency of grammatical mistakes heavily distorts meaning in several places, placing the writing firmly in Band 4.0.

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

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