Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-06

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 5.5)

The table illustrates the total population of five city in New Your city named Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten between the year 1800 to 2000 over same period.

Overall, the total population growth increased dramatically across the period, where the population increased from thousands in1800 to millions in 2000. In 19th century, Manhattan became dominant and maintained it. Brooklyn and Queens, including other centers' total growth count, was progressively increasing.

The total population growth of New York was steadily increasing from about 79,216 in the year 1800 to close to 3.4 million people in 1900 before doubling to about eight million in the year 2000.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the ability to fully address the task. While you have identified some main features, such as the overall growth and the dominance of Manhattan, the analysis is incomplete. You have not provided a detailed comparison of the five districts as requested by the prompt, leaving out specific data points and trends for several areas. To improve, you must ensure all parts of the prompt are covered and that the response meets the length requirement to allow for a full development of the data provided in the tables.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into short paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is limited due to the brevity of the text. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall' and 'In 19th century', but the transitions between the overview and the specific data are somewhat abrupt. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the phrase 'including other centers' total growth count', which is vague. To achieve a higher score, you should use a wider range of linking words to connect your sentences and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, logical focus.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range required for a higher band. You use basic terms like 'increased dramatically' and 'steadily increasing'. While these are accurate, there is little evidence of less common or more sophisticated vocabulary related to data description. There are also minor errors, such as 'five city' (should be 'five cities') and 'New Your city' (a spelling error for 'York'). To improve, try to incorporate more varied synonyms for growth and change, and ensure careful proofreading to avoid simple spelling and pluralization mistakes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that detract from the quality of the writing. For example, 'between the year 1800 to 2000 over same period' is awkward and grammatically incorrect. Additionally, 'In 19th century' is missing an article ('the'). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to affect the overall flow. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, correct preposition usage, and ensuring that your sentences are grammatically complete and punctuated correctly.

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

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