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)
One table illustrates the shift in overall citizenry in New York and other tables demonstrate the change in the total number of people of the five districts Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island from 1800 to 2000.
New York consists of highest number of citizens of all five districts in 2000. Manhattan solely contains the most number of people in 1800 in contrast with all other four districts.
Collective number of peoples live in New York city was only 79,216 in year 1800 which than dramatically shifts to 3,437,202 in year 1900. The total count shows aggressive increase till year 2000 having 8,009,185 peoples.
While talking about area, Manhattan consists of 76% of total population 60,515 in 1800 while other four districts contain 18,701 only 24%. In year 1900 Manhattan and other four combined districtsaccounts for almost 50 50% whereas in 2000 other four districts shows 6,471,089 (81%) of total number of citizens in contrast Manhattan only contain 1,538,096 (19%) of residents.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview of New York City's total population and breaking down the figures for Manhattan versus the other four districts across the years 1800, 1900, and 2000. Key features and comparisons are clearly reported, such as Manhattan holding 76% of the population in 1800 before dropping to 19% by 2000, while the remaining districts experienced massive growth. However, some areas are slightly under-developed; for instance, the description of the overall population surge could be extended with more precise comparative commentary on the rate of growth between the earlier and later centuries. Overall, the content is relevant, accurate according to the provided data, and presents a clear picture of the main trends.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression, starting with an introductory overview, moving to general population totals, and concluding with a detailed comparison of the districts' percentages and numbers. Paragraphing is used to separate different aspects of the visual data. Nevertheless, cohesion is at times mechanical or somewhat faulty. For example, transition phrases like 'While talking about area' are awkward for introducing demographic data, and referencing words could be handled with greater precision to link sentences smoothly. Despite these minor lapses, the message flows clearly enough for the reader to follow without significant confusion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The lexical resource is adequate for the task, demonstrating an attempt to use a variety of vocabulary related to data trends, such as 'shift', 'dramatically', 'aggressive increase', and 'combined districts accounts for'. However, there are noticeable vocabulary and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'overall citizenry' instead of 'overall population', 'peoples' instead of 'people', and 'districtsaccounts' which merges words incorrectly. Non-standard collocations like 'aggressive increase' are also present. These lexical inaccuracies and occasional awkward word forms demonstrate limitations in control, though they do not seriously impede communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like relative clauses and comparative constructions. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in tense consistency, articles, and prepositions. Examples include 'New York consists of highest number' (missing articles and superlative form error), 'in year 1800 which than dramatically shifts' (incorrect conjunction and tense mixing past and present), and punctuation or agreement slips such as missing commas in numbers and incorrect verb agreement in 'other four districts shows'. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, they occur frequently enough to place the grammatical control within this band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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