Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-26

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 4.0)

The tables illustrates the population changes which New York City has underwent over two centuries starting from 1800 to 2000.

Overall,the New York City population had a substantial increase with Manhattan being the significant city witha sizeable change in its popi=

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the broad topic and attempts an overview by saying that New York City’s population increased substantially. However, it does not report any figures or make the key comparison between Manhattan and the other districts. The claim that Manhattan was “the significant city with a sizeable change” is unclear and does not capture the main pattern: Manhattan’s population rose to a peak in 1900 and then fell, while the other districts grew markedly and made up a much larger share by 2000. The response also falls well short of the required 150 words, leaving the task only minimally addressed. To improve, give a clear overview and support it with selected figures from all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening sentence introduces the tables, followed by an overview beginning with “Overall”. This gives the reader a simple starting point, but the response ends before it develops into a coherent summary. There are no body paragraphs, comparisons, or progression through the years, and the overview’s final idea is incomplete. The spacing and punctuation in “Overall,the” also make the transition less clear. Build a short introduction, a distinct overview, and one or two paragraphs grouping the main population changes; use time markers such as “by 1900” and “by 2000” to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant vocabulary, including “population changes”, “substantial increase” and “sizeable change”, showing an attempt to describe trends rather than simply repeat the task. However, the range is very limited, and several choices are inaccurate or unclear: “significant city” does not express the intended comparison, while “witha” and the unfinished “popi=” disrupt readability. The phrase “population changes which New York City has underwent” also uses an awkward word form and collocation. Use precise terms for the data, such as “population”, “proportion”, “rose”, “declined” and “accounted for”, and check spelling and spacing carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts a complex opening clause, but grammatical control is uneven. In “The tables illustrates”, the plural subject requires “illustrate”; “New York City has underwent” has an incorrect verb form, and “over two centuries starting from 1800 to 2000” is not a well-formed time expression. The second sentence begins with an overview structure, but it is incomplete and does not form a clear grammatical statement. The very short sample provides little evidence of varied sentence structures or consistent accuracy. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and verb forms, and use a clear construction such as “The tables show how the population changed between 1800 and 2000.”

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