Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graphs below show the percentage of people holding full driving licences in Great Britain by age and sex.

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

Full car driving licence holders: by sex and age

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The bar graphs illustrate the ratio of citizens holding full driving licences in Great Britain by age and sex. Overall, It can be seen that the percentage of licences increased in 2006 for most age groups. Men had higher figures than women in both years, especially among younger people. However, the difference became smaller in some older groups.

In

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response falls significantly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 48 words (with 11 words copied directly from the prompt). Because the length requirement is severely unfulfilled, the response addresses the task only minimally. While the writer attempts a brief overview and points out that licence percentages generally increased in 2006 alongside general gender trends, the information is too sparse and incomplete to satisfy the requirements of the task properly. To improve, the student must ensure they write at least 150 words and provide a more fully developed summary with specific data points from the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The text demonstrates a basic attempt at logical organisation by starting with an introductory paraphrase followed by a rudimentary overview sentence. However, because the response stops abruptly after just a few sentences and cuts off mid-word ('In'), there is no proper body paragraph structure or clear progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are minimal, and the lack of a complete response prevents effective paragraphing or overall cohesion. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to structure their ideas into distinct paragraphs, linking data points smoothly with appropriate cohesive devices to maintain a clear flow throughout a full-length essay.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The student uses an adequate basic vocabulary suitable for discussing graphs, such as 'ratio', 'citizens', and 'percentage'. However, the range of vocabulary is extremely limited due to the shortness of the text, preventing any demonstration of less common lexical items or flexibility. There are no spelling errors in the words actually produced, but the severe brevity restricts the lexical score. To improve, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of precise terminology related to statistical trends, such as verbs and adverbs describing change (e.g., 'rose significantly', 'experienced a marked growth').

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The few sentences present in the response show a mix of simple structures, such as 'Men had higher figures than women in both years', and a complex structure using a passive construction ('It can be seen that...'). The grammar within these short sentences is mostly accurate, with correct past and present tense usage for describing data. However, the range of grammatical structures is necessarily limited by the extremely short length, and the text ends abruptly in an incomplete sentence. To reach higher bands, the writer must produce a complete essay demonstrating a wide and flexible variety of complex sentence forms with consistent control over punctuation and grammar.

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

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