Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-15
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 shows the changes in population in New York City and five different districts in New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island) over a three hundred years period from 1800 to 2000. The unit of measurement is percentage.
Overall, the year 2000 had the highest population of New Yokers and 1800 had the lowest population, while the percentage of the total population in the other distracts makes up for the highest percentage of people.
In 1800, the population of residents in Manhattan was 60,515 with 76% of the total population compared to the other districts with 18,701 residents at 24% of the total population. Compared to the year 1900 with over twice the population in 1800 at 1,850,093 at 54% of the total population. The other districts had over three times more the population of the population with 1,587,109 residents and less than the percentage of the total population in the same century.
In the year 2000, the other four districts had over two million more than the population of Manhattan with 6,471,089, while the other four district made up for 81% of the total population, which is 62% more than that of Manhattan. New York City's total population in per year sums up to about 11,525,603 with 79,216 in 1800 with the lowest population, 3.347,202 in 1900 and 8,009,185 in 2000 with the highest population.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
You identify the overall rise in New York City’s population and the shift in population share from Manhattan to the other districts, which are central features. However, the summary is only partially accurate and developed. The total for 1900 is given as “3.347,202” rather than 3,437,202, and the claim that the other districts had “over three times more” population than Manhattan in 1900 is incorrect: their population was lower. The overview also says the other districts had the highest percentage without clearly describing the change across all three years. Avoid saying the unit is percentage, since the tables report both population and percentage share. Select the main trends accurately and compare them directly.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details for 1800, 1900 and 2000. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “In 1800” and “In the year 2000” help signal time. However, progression is weakened by a long, crowded paragraph that combines several comparisons, and the 1900 discussion is difficult to follow: “Compared to the year 1900 with over twice the population…” does not form a complete comparison. Some linking is also inaccurate or unclear, including “while” in the overview and “which is 62% more.” Group the figures by the main trend—Manhattan versus the other districts—and use clear, complete comparison sentences.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant vocabulary for describing tables, including “population,” “percentage,” “compared to,” and “total population.” This is enough to communicate the general subject, but the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive. “New Yorkers” is not the most suitable way to describe the population figures, while “distracts” appears to be a misspelling of “districts.” The phrase “over three times more the population of the population” is awkward and obscures the comparison; “made up for” is also not the right expression for a population share. Use precise reporting language such as “accounted for,” “rose to,” and “was lower than,” and check spelling and collocations carefully.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt longer sentences and use some subordinate clauses, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make comparisons hard to understand. The opening “The tables shows” has subject–verb disagreement; it should be “The tables show.” In “Compared to the year 1900 with over twice the population…,” the sentence is incomplete, and the following comparison lacks a clear grammatical structure. There are also problems with number and phrasing in “the other four district made up” and “New York City’s total population in per year sums up.” Sentence boundaries and punctuation need attention, particularly where several figures are joined in one sentence. Build accuracy with shorter comparison sentences, then add complex clauses only when their relationships are clear.
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