Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-19

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 5.0)

In the given first charts, we can see that net population is written, where in the second and third chart poulation is divided in two groups.

As we can see that in 1800, the population was only 24% and in numbers it was 18,701 in four districts of New York and it reached to 76% in Manhattan which is 3/4 of total the population of the other districts.

In 1900, the population in Manhattan was larger; it had 54% and 1,850,093 of the total population as compared to the other four districts of New York, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island which had only 1,587,109 number of people.

On the other side, it is clear that the population of 4 disticts rose significantly and reached to 81% as compared to the population of Manhattan which was only 19%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the score. Furthermore, the analysis is incomplete and confusing. The student struggles to interpret the data correctly, particularly in the second paragraph where the percentages and numbers are presented in a way that does not accurately reflect the provided tables. The summary lacks a clear overview of the main trends, such as the overall population growth of New York City or the shifting dominance between Manhattan and the other districts. The information is presented in a fragmented manner, making it difficult to follow the historical progression of the data.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks a logical structure. While there are paragraph breaks, the progression of ideas is disjointed. Cohesive devices are used in a very basic and sometimes inaccurate way, such as 'On the other side', which does not effectively transition between the points. The referencing is unclear; for instance, the mention of 'four districts' is confusing because the prompt lists five. The lack of clear signposting makes the relationship between the data points difficult to discern, and the overall arrangement of information does not facilitate a smooth reading experience.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. The student relies on basic terms like 'larger', 'numbers', and 'total'. There are errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'net population is written' and 'poulation is divided in two groups', which do not accurately describe the data presentation. The spelling of 'poulation' and 'disticts' is also incorrect. The range of vocabulary is insufficient to convey the information with the precision required for an Academic Task 1 report, and the errors occasionally impede the clarity of the message.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that affect readability. There are issues with sentence structure, such as 'In the given first charts, we can see that net population is written', which is syntactically awkward. Subject-verb agreement and preposition usage are inconsistent. While there is an attempt at complex sentences, they are often poorly constructed or contain errors, such as 'which is 3/4 of total the population of the other districts'. Punctuation is generally functional, but the overall control of grammar is weak, with errors occurring in almost every sentence.

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

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