Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-16

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 given three tables describes the popoulation of New York city from 1800 to 2000 ,while the first one shows total population while the other two tables describe separately poulation of each district.

The population of New York in 1800 was 79,216. After 100 years in 1900 it increases three times and became 3,437,202.While in 2002, this increased population reached to 8,009,185 (almost five times increased was seen).

Almost 76% of total population of New York was in Manhattan district in 1800, while it showed increased of about 54% in 1900 and than 19% in 2002. While all other four districts constitute about 24% of total population of New York in 1800 which was very fewer number than Manhattan. These districts showed increased of about 46% in 1900 and 81% in 2002.

As from all the discussion , Manhattan constitute about 80% of the total population of New York City in 1800.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The student attempts to address the task by reporting data from the tables regarding the population of New York City and its districts from 1800 to 2000. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, the student states that the population in 2002 reached 8,009,185 (the table clearly states 2000, not 2002). Furthermore, the percentages for Manhattan are described as showing 'an increased of about 54% in 1900 and than 19% in 2002', which misinterprets the proportions (Manhattan actually dropped from 76% to 54% and then 19%). Additionally, the concluding sentence erroneously claims that Manhattan constituted 80% of the population in 1800 (the table shows 76%), and contradicts the data by stating this as a concluding remark. Due to these data misinterpretations and inaccurate reporting, the response falls into the lower bands for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is divided into four short paragraphs, representing a rudimentary attempt at structuring an overview, body details, and a conclusion. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by poor cohesion and contradictory statements. For example, the transition 'while the first one shows total population' lacks proper clause connection. Words like 'than' are misused instead of 'then'. Furthermore, the conclusion contains a logical flaw by restating a distorted data point rather than summarising the main trends. Paragraphing is present, but overall cohesion is mechanical and sometimes confusing.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, heavily relying on terms directly lifted from the prompt such as 'population', 'district', and 'New York City'. There are numerous spelling mistakes ('popoulation', 'poulation', 'increased' used instead of 'increase') and word-form errors, such as 'showed increased of about 54%' instead of 'showed a decrease'. The range of vocabulary is limited and insufficient to discuss statistical trends precisely, leading to communication strain when describing percentages and proportions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The response contains a mix of simple sentence structures and attempted complex sentences, but these are frequently marred by basic grammatical errors. Examples include tense confusion and preposition errors, such as 'increases three times and became' (mixing present and past tenses) and 'which was very fewer number than' (incorrect comparative structure). Punctuation and spacing errors (e.g., spaces before commas) are also present throughout the text. While simple sentences are generally understandable, errors occur with high frequency and occasionally impede the clear reading of the data.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.