Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The first table below shows changes in the total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000. The second and third tables show changes in the population of the five districts of the city (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) over the same period.

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

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The first table below shows changes in the total population of New York City from 1800 to 2000. The second and third tables show changes in the population of five districts of the city.

overall, the population of America all five districts increases gradually as the years passes. But in Manhattan the percentage of citizens decreases instead of increasing like other parts of country. A bigger changes are observed in other districts, a progressive growth of humanbeings as the years passed.

In Manhattan district, percentage of growth in 1800 is 76% with popultaion of 60,515. Next year in 1900 the general public increases to 1850,093 but percent dropped to 54. In addition to that, in 2000 the figure decreases to 1538,096 at 19%.

while, in other regions the population in 1800 is 18701 at 24%. As the years passes growth increases

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the broad contrast that New York’s population grew while Manhattan’s share declined, and you include some relevant figures, such as Manhattan’s 76% share in 1800 and 19% in 2000. However, the response only partially reports the tables: the citywide totals and the 2000 figure for the other districts are omitted, and the account of those districts stops after 1800. The statement that the city’s population increased “gradually” also does not reflect the very large rise shown. Some figures are inaccurately formatted or unclear, including “1850,093.” The response is 112 words, below the required 150; the 29 words copied from the prompt are not counted. Add a complete overview and compare the key figures across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response, moving from an overview to details about Manhattan and then the other districts. This gives the reader some sense of the intended structure. However, the progression is incomplete: the final paragraph ends after “As the years passes growth increases,” without reporting the later data or completing the comparison. Linking phrases such as “In addition to that” and “while” are used, but they do not consistently make the relationships between ideas clear, and “while” begins a new paragraph without a complete contrast. Use separate, complete paragraphs for the overview and the main comparisons, and connect each year’s figures explicitly so the information is arranged coherently.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the general topic and some trends, with phrases such as “percentage … decreases” and “progressive growth.” However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing statistical data. “General public” does not mean population, “humanbeings” is unsuitable in this context, and “a bigger changes” is an inaccurate phrase. There are also spelling errors, including “popultaion,” and inconsistent number formatting. Prefer standard data-reporting language such as “population,” “share,” “rose,” and “fell,” and check spelling and collocations. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish absolute population figures from percentages of the city total.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer comparisons, for example, “In addition to that, in 2000 the figure decreases…” This shows some effort to connect information, but the range is limited and errors recur in sentence structure, tense, agreement, and punctuation. Examples include “as the years passes” and “A bigger changes are observed”; the opening overview also has an unclear construction in “the population of America all five districts increases.” Tense shifts between present and past (“increases,” “passed,” “dropped”) make the time period harder to follow, and the final sentence is incomplete. Use consistent past tense for the historical data, check subject–verb agreement, and write complete sentences with clear punctuation.

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

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