Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-02
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)
The tables illustrate the total number of population in New York city and compares the population of Manhattan with the population of other four districts of New York as percentage of total population. In the year 1800, 1900 and 2000.
Overall, it is crystal clear that in the 20th century there was the highest population living in New York and its most of the population was living in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten island. Whereas in 18th century most of the New York population was living in Manhattan.
In the year 1800, most of the New York population was
from Manhattan which was covering 76% of total and other 24% was living in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten island. The total population of New York was 79,216. In the year 1900 total population of New York was 3,437,202
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response only partially addresses the prompt and fails to reach the minimum word count of 150 words, stopping abruptly mid-sentence in the third paragraph. While there is an attempt to introduce the tables and provide an overview, the reporting of data is incomplete. For instance, the writer mentions the 1800 population figures and percentages, but omits the 2000 data entirely and fails to adequately detail the 1900 statistics for the other districts. To improve, the student must ensure all parts of the visual data are covered across the timeline and write a fully completed essay that meets the word length requirement.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
The organization of the text is hindered by the incomplete nature of the response and abrupt termination. Although the student attempts basic paragraphing by separating the introduction, overview, and body details, the overall progression lacks cohesion. The transitions between paragraphs are simplistic, using phrases like 'Overall, it is crystal clear' and 'In the year 1800'. Furthermore, referencing and logical sequencing are disrupted because the data points for later years are never provided. To achieve a higher band, the writing must be fully developed with a clear, logical flow connecting the introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding synthesis of the data.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is basic and minimally adequate for the task. The student relies on repetitive phrasing, such as 'total population of New York' and 'Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten island'. There are also awkward word choices and phrasing errors, such as 'total number of population' instead of 'total population' and 'was covering 76% of total' instead of 'accounted for 76% of the total'. To improve lexical resource, the student should incorporate a wider variety of synonyms and functional academic vocabulary to describe statistical changes, such as verbs indicating proportion, growth, or decline.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on basic, repetitive patterns. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions, articles, and capitalization. Examples include missing articles ('in New York city', 'living in New York and its most of the population', 'in 18th century') and awkward prepositional usage ('population was from Manhattan'). Complex sentence attempts are scarce, and punctuation is occasionally neglected, as seen in the fragmented sentence structure at the end of the text. To improve, the student needs to work on mastering basic grammatical accuracy, including subject-verb agreement and article usage.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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