Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-22

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 provides data on the over population of New York City from 1800, 1900 and 2000. Other two tables show changees in number of population in Manhattan and all other four districts.

Overall, there were less population in 1800 but shows dramatic increase in 2000. Meanwhile, people in Manhattan and other districts tells about changes from 1800 to 2000.

In the year 1800 overall citizen in the New York City was about 79,216. Moreover, in Manhattan there was massive population of 76% in numbers 60,515. Other four districts had only 24% population .

However, there was slight increased in residents in New York City in 1900 which was 3,437,202 and other four districts also grewBut, Manhattan fell to 54% it includes 1,850,096 people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The student attempts to address the prompt by reporting figures from the tables, such as the total population in 1800 (79,216) and the percentages for Manhattan and other districts. However, the response falls significantly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 125 words, which incurs a penalty. Furthermore, the overview is extremely weak and fails to clearly summarize the main overall trends, such as the massive population growth of New York City and the shifting demographic balance between Manhattan and the other districts over the two-century period. Some data points are also inaccurate or confused, such as stating that Manhattan fell to 54% 'it includes 1,850,096 people' for 1900, whereas the table shows 1,850,093. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is organized into four short paragraphs, representing an attempt at an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. However, logical progression is weak. The overview sentences ('Overall, there were less population in 1800... Meanwhile, people in Manhattan and other districts tells about changes...') are vague and do not effectively summarize the trends. Cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, or awkward (e.g., 'Moreover', 'However', 'grewBut'), making the flow mechanical and sometimes difficult to follow. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall structure lacks the cohesion required for higher bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple terms like 'population', 'district', 'people', and 'changes'. There are noticeable lexical and collocational errors, such as 'over population' instead of 'overall population', 'less population' instead of 'a smaller population', and 'overall citizen' instead of 'total population'. Attempts at less common vocabulary are absent. Spelling is mostly correct, but word choices frequently sound unnatural or inaccurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The student displays a very limited range of sentence structures, mostly relying on simple sentences with occasional basic complex attempts. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('there were less population', 'other four districts had only 24% population', 'there was slight increased'), missing prepositions, and punctuation/spacing errors (e.g., 'grewBut'). These errors sometimes cause minor confusion for the reader, reflecting weak control over grammatical accuracy.

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

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