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 tables compares the differences in the total population of 5 different district in new york for 3 years.The parameters used were percentages,the names of the districts are
Manhattan, Brooklyn,bronx,Queen and Staten island.
Overall,It is clearly noticed that the cities population in year 2000 rose significantly, however in 1900 their population plunged slightly,while in the year 1800,there was a drastic reduction in the number of people.
To begin with, Manhattan had the highest population in the year 1800 of 76% although experienced a decline in 1900 to 54% and by 2000 their polution plummeted.
futhermore, populations in other 4 districts(Brooklyn,bronx, Queen and staten island) in 1800 were less populated with 24%,however in 1900 there were increased people residing in the cities and by year 2000 their populations rose significantly to 81% witt total population of 6,471,089.
In comparison,New york city and its districts were less populated in year 1800 with total population of 79,216,which had an increased people living in the city by 1900 with 3,437,202. However the population sharply increased in 2000 with total population of 8,009,185.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of New York City's population changes from 1800 to 2000, including data for Manhattan and the other districts. An overview is attempted, noting the general growth trends over the centuries, although some confusion is evident in the phrasing regarding population fluctuations. Certain ideas are under-developed or inaccurately described, such as stating that the population 'plunged slightly' in 1900, whereas the data clearly shows massive overall growth from 79,216 to over 3.4 million in that year. Data is occasionally misread, but the main contrast between Manhattan's declining share and the growth of the other districts is captured, placing the response solidly at this level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a discernible introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. However, progression is somewhat disrupted by faulty and mechanical use of cohesive devices and transitions, such as 'To begin with', 'futhermore', and 'In comparison', which do not always accurately signal the logical relationship between sentences. Paragraphing is attempted, but referencing and referencing pronouns are sometimes unclear. The overall structure feels disjointed in places, preventing a smooth flow of ideas throughout the response.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
An adequate vocabulary range is employed to convey the task information, utilizing terms such as 'population', 'districts', 'percentages', and 'significantly'. There are notable attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'plummeted', 'drastic reduction', and 'residing', but these are accompanied by recurring word-choice, collocation, and form inaccuracies, such as writing 'polution' instead of population and miscapitalising proper nouns like 'bronx', 'Queen', and 'new york'. Spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable throughout the text, though they do not completely impede communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures frequently contain errors. There are frequent issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'The tables compares' instead of compare, and 'an increased people' instead of an increase in the number of people. Punctuation and capitalization errors are common, including missing spaces after punctuation marks and lower-case letters at the beginning of sentences. While these errors persist, the meaning is usually retrievable, placing the grammatical control at this level.
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