Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-04

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 5.5)

The first table illustrates the fluctuation of the figures in all five districts of New York City in reagrds to population from 1800 to 2000. Whereas the other two tables demonstrates every district proportion among total population.

Overall,there was a sharp rose in the population of New York City from 1800 to 2000.In regards to over-crowded, Manhattan was the largest proportion of the five districts in 1800 which reamined at its position for next two centuries while on the other hand, the four other districts had a huge growth in the proportion of the total population and became the highest contributor of the New York City in 2000.

In 1800, New York CIty had population of 79 thousand peoples but later, this city was overcrowded in the next century with more then increase of almost 1000 percent which made up the numbers to 8 crore in 2000 including all of his districts.Manhattan was the most crowded city in the 1800 with a 76 percent of the total population of New York City and other four districts contributed total of 24 percent in the overall population.

FInally, the population increased day by day and Manhattan growth remained steady so it showed decline in the numbers from 76 percent to 19 percent of the total because the other districts had become overcrowded namely Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island gradually increased his population and became the largest contributor among the whole population with proportion of 24 percent in 1800, 46 percent in 1900 and at the end, in 2000, its population increased upto 81 percent of the whole population.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by presenting an overview and reporting the main features from the tables provided, including overall population figures and percentage changes for Manhattan and the other districts from 1800 to 2000. Data is cited adequately, such as Manhattan dropping from 76 percent to 19 percent, while the other districts rose from 24 percent to 81 percent. However, some ideas are under-developed or less fully articulated, such as the missing intermediate year data in the final paragraph, and there are some minor factual inaccuracies in interpreting the scale of the population numbers (referring to '8 crore'). This meets the requirements of the lower band and demonstrates some features of the next band through clear selection of key trends.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an overall coherent arrangement, opening with an introductory statement and attempting to structure the body paragraphs logically around the provided tables. However, progression is sometimes hindered by faulty, mechanical, or repetitive cohesive devices, such as 'whereas the other two tables demonstrates', 'while on the other hand', and 'FInally'. Paragraphing is present, but referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical links between sentences can feel abrupt or forced, which keeps the organization at a foundational level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully attempting less common items and descriptive phrases such as 'fluctuation', 'proportion', 'sharp rose', and 'largest contributor'. Nevertheless, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'in reagrds to', 'demonstrates every district proportion', 'over-crowded', and informal scaling expressions like '8 crore' and '79 thousand peoples'. These errors in word choice, spelling, and collocation do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to an adequate, developing level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating structures with relative clauses and subordinating conjunctions. However, there is a limited range of structures controlled accurately, and frequent grammatical errors are present throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('the other two tables demonstrates'), incorrect prepositions ('in reagrds to'), awkward relative clauses, and punctuation mistakes such as missing spaces after periods. While communication is maintained despite these flaws, the frequent grammatical slips prevent the writing from achieving higher structural control.

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