Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-07

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 table below illustrate the population of new york city of all five district in year 1800 to 2000. Moreover the table shows rise and decline in population of Manhattan and increase in the population of other four districts.

Overall, the population of New York increased as the year passed conversely percentage of total Manhattan population decline as compare to other four states.

In 1800, 76% of the new york population which is 60515, lived in manhattan whereas the other 24% of them were in different districts. Further more, after a decade in 1900 there was a significant increase in population of new york from 79 thousand to 3.4million. In which manhattan was 54 percent and other district were 46% making Manha

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the broad pattern that New York City’s population grew and Manhattan’s share declined, and you include relevant figures for 1800 and 1900. However, the response addresses the tables only partially: it stops before reporting the 2000 figures, so the major shift by the end of the period is missing. The overview also says Manhattan’s population declined without clarifying that this happened after 1900, while the city’s total population continued to rise. The response contains 122 words, below the required 150, and its final sentence is cut off at “making Manha…”. To improve, complete the comparison across all three years and explain that the other districts’ combined share reached 81% by 2000.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response with an introduction, an overview and a paragraph of figures, and time markers such as “In 1800” and “in 1900” help establish chronology. However, the progression is incomplete: the account ends mid-sentence and never reaches the final year, leaving the comparison unfinished. Some linking is mechanical or unclear, as in “Overall… conversely,” and “Further more” does not smoothly connect the next point. The paragraphing also does not yet support a complete summary of the data. Use a clear sequence—introduction, overview, then comparisons covering 1800, 1900 and 2000—and connect related figures in complete sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “population,” “percentage,” “significant increase,” and “decline,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or repetitive. “Other four districts” is inaccurate because the table groups the four districts together, while “other states” mislabels them; “as the year passed” is also an awkward way to describe change over a period. Capitalisation and spelling are inconsistent in “new york” and “manhattan.” Aim for more precise data-reporting language, such as “the combined population of the other districts” and “Manhattan’s share of the city total,” and use a wider range of verbs such as “rose,” “fell” and “accounted for.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, for example the sentence beginning “In 1800” and the clause “whereas the other 24%…”. However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. The opening has subject–verb disagreement (“table…illustrate”), and “the population of new york city of all five district” has an unclear grammatical structure. In “as the year passed,” the tense and construction are unsuitable for the period described; “after a decade in 1900” also gives an incorrect time relationship. The final sentence is incomplete, and punctuation between clauses is weak. Practise accurate agreement, articles and plural forms, and check that every sentence has a complete main clause.

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