Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-13
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 population of New York has progressed from the the year [redacted phone]. Manhatten is a major district among others whose population increased from year 1800 to 1900. By the 20th century it had a decline and 19% covering an got into a uniform satge. The other four were having a uniform population increase through out the year's.
New york in 1800 was emerging with population of 79,216. While district Manhattan was incoming with 76%. Other four just adding 24% of there inividual's. Year 1900 New York had a vast jump over the respectives. Manhatten introduced 54% in that year. Which became a major district. While the others were gradually behind them.
Starting of the year 2000 city was packed with 8,009,185 calculations. Major district didn't contributed much mainly with 19%. Four small districts had a huge share with a wide range of 81%. Manhattan only helped in the intial years but afterwards the four districts contributed in the future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to summarize the population changes of New York City and its five districts from 1800 to 2000. However, the data interpretation is frequently inaccurate and confused. For instance, the text states that Manhattan had a decline and '19% covering an got into a uniform stage' by the 20th century, which misrepresents the provided statistics. The overview of the tables is disjointed, and key comparative trends across the 200-year span are poorly articulated. The response partially addresses the prompt, but the limited and underdeveloped ideas align best with Band 5 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text is divided into three paragraphs, providing some basic structure to the response. However, there is a distinct lack of clear overall progression and logical linking between ideas. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, as seen in phrases like 'Starting of the year 2000 city was packed with 8,009,185 calculations.' Referencing is often unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the flow of information between New York City as a whole and its individual districts. These features reflect the characteristics of a Band 5 performance.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is very basic and often strained or inappropriate for an academic report. Examples include 'calculations' instead of 'residents' or 'people', and non-standard collocations like 'incoming with 76%' and 'vast jump over the respectives.' Spelling and word-choice errors are frequent, such as 'Manhatten' (misspelled), 'intial', and 'satge.' While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey a vague sense of the topic, the noticeable errors and restricted range place this firmly in the Band 4 to Band 5 range, leaning towards a 4.5, but rounded to 4.0 due to the high density of lexical errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text contains numerous errors in sentence structure, preposition use, and verb forms, such as 'The other four were having a uniform population increase through out the year's' and 'Major district didn't contributed much.' Simple sentence structures dominate, and attempts at more complex formulations are frequently faulty and obscure meaning. Punctuation is also problematic. Because errors are frequent and often cause difficulty for the reader, this performance corresponds to Band 4.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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