Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Academic Practice Accelerator · 2026-08-04

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart shows the typical weekday for students in three different countries.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The bar chart shows the proportion of business towards social media between 2012 and 2016.

Overall, Large businesses are with highest proportion (with 98%) in presence of social media, where small businesses accounts for the lowest (with 49%). In 2016, all the businesses have rise than previous years, substantially.

Medium and Small businesses are having almost similar proportions in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Large businesses are overall constant, where as Small businesses are increasing steadily for three years. In 2015, All businesses decline with almost 40% of its proportion ; However, In 2016 all businesses increased sharply than recent years.

Medium businesses have some fluctuations as it increased for two years and decreased with around 20% in next year. Large businesses ranks first when we compare with other businesses in 2012. All businesses were effected in 2015 and recovered in next year. Medium business proportions were almost constant in 2013 and 2014.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 3.0

The response fails to accurately identify the subject matter of the chart. You described the data as 'business towards social media,' whereas the prompt clearly states the chart shows the 'typical weekday for students.' Consequently, the entire report is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the data. While you attempt to summarize trends and make comparisons, the information provided does not reflect the actual visual data. To improve, you must carefully analyze the labels, axes, and title of the chart before writing. The report lacks a clear overview of the actual trends presented in the prompt's image, leading to a significant failure in task fulfillment.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical progression is hindered by the inaccurate interpretation of the data. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Overall,' 'However,' and 'In 2016,' which helps the flow, but the connections between sentences often feel mechanical or forced due to the confusion regarding the content. Paragraphing is present, but the grouping of ideas is somewhat arbitrary. To improve, ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus and that transitions are used to link related points rather than just starting new sentences. The lack of clarity in the data analysis makes the overall structure difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. You rely on basic terms like 'proportion,' 'businesses,' and 'increased.' There are also issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'business towards social media' and 'all the businesses have rise.' The use of 'effected' instead of 'affected' is a common error. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated,' 'remained stable,' or 'experienced a sharp decline.' Focus on using precise terminology relevant to the specific data being analyzed rather than generic business terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that impede clarity. Examples include 'Large businesses are with highest proportion' (missing articles and incorrect preposition), 'all the businesses have rise' (incorrect verb form), and 'All businesses decline with almost 40% of its proportion' (subject-verb agreement and preposition issues). You rely mostly on simple sentence structures, and attempts at more complex sentences often result in errors. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, specifically subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and consistent verb tenses when describing past data.

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

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