Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-04

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 provided table Illustrate changes in the tolatal population of new york city and compare the population figure and percentage of other four districs namely Manhattan,beooklyn,bronx, queens and staten across three specific years 1800,1900 and 2000

Overall,The total popolation of new york city dramatic and countinuesly increase over the two century. Additinolly there was a down fall in Mahattan accounted for smallest number.

In 1800 totall population of new york city made up 79216 mahattan accounted for 60515 of people which was 76% of totall population other four distric had only 18701 people accounted for just 24% Comparison By,1900 the cities overall population approxmately rose to [redacted phone].Mahantan population making up [redacted phone] 54% if totall population. Therefor other distric represent [redacted phone] and 46 % of population reapectively

By, the year 2000 the totall polulation of new york city made up with double hit number of [redacted phone] while Mahattan experiance slight decreaed [redacted phone] percentage of 19% tepresent the other four staten [redacted phone] and 81 per cent of the populagion respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main changes across all three years and include the key figures for the city, Manhattan and the other districts. The overview correctly identifies the city’s strong overall growth and Manhattan’s later decline, while the figures show the other districts’ share rising substantially. However, the overview’s claim that Manhattan “accounted for smallest number” is unclear and does not identify the major shift in population share. Some details are also imprecise: the city’s population in 2000 was more than twice its 1900 level, rather than simply a “double hit number,” and the other districts’ 2000 population is given as 6,471,081 instead of 6,471,089. A clearer overview and more precise comparisons would make the key features better developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and chronological details for 1800, 1900 and 2000. This makes the broad progression understandable, and time markers such as “In 1800,” “By 1900” and “By the year 2000” help guide the reader. However, the body is presented as one long paragraph, and several sentences run together, making comparisons harder to follow. Connectors such as “Additionally,” “Therefore” and “respectively” are used, but some links are awkward or unclear—for example, “Comparison By,1900” and “Therefor other distric represent.” Separate the year-by-year information into clear paragraphs and use simpler, more accurate transitions to improve progression and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for describing tables, including “population,” “accounted for,” “percentage” and “increase,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling problems reduce precision. “Dramatic and countinuesly increase” is not a natural description; “rose sharply and steadily” would be clearer. “Down fall” is better expressed as “decline,” while “double hit number” does not communicate the intended comparison. There are also repeated misspellings, including “tolatal,” “popolation,” “districs” and “Mahattan.” Check spelling carefully and choose standard data-reporting phrases; this will make your descriptions more precise and easier to read.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the reader can usually identify the intended comparisons. However, some sentence structures are incomplete or difficult to parse, such as “Overall, The total population … dramatic and countinuesly increase” and “By the year 2000 the total population … made up with…”. These need a clear subject and correctly formed verb phrase, for example, “Overall, New York City’s population increased dramatically.” There are also errors in articles, agreement and punctuation, including missing commas and full stops, and inconsistent capitalisation at sentence beginnings. Use complete sentences with a consistent past tense for the historical data, and check that each sentence has a clear subject and verb. More accurate control of these patterns would improve readability.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.