Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
below shows the value of one country’s exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 compared with 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 4.5)
The bar chart illustrates the value of exports in various categories happening in one country lbetween 2015 and 2016 measured by billion dollar. The table demonstrate the percentage in each category of exports in 2016 comparing with 2015.
Overall, the majority of Export earnings slightly increased, with the exception of gems an jewellery, which decreased slightly in 2026. Petroleum products and engineered goods were the highest, however, textiles and agricultural products were the lowest.
In 2015
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The student attempts to summarise the visual data by identifying some main features, such as the overall upward trend in export earnings and categories like petroleum products and gems. However, the response is severely underdeveloped and trails off mid-sentence with 'In 2015', failing to complete the description or integrate the table data fully. Furthermore, the response is only 76 words long, falling well short of the 150-word minimum requirement. This under-length severely limits the degree to which the task is addressed, resulting in a low band score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The text begins with a standard introductory sentence identifying the charts, but the lack of a proper body paragraph structure and the abrupt termination of the text ('In 2015') prevent any clear overall progression. While basic cohesive links such as 'Overall' and 'with the exception of' are used, the severe incompleteness of the writing means that information and ideas cannot be arranged into a coherent whole.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for discussing charts and economic data, attempting terms such as 'illustrate', 'export earnings', 'percentage', and 'category'. However, there are notable lexical errors and typos, such as 'lbetween' instead of 'between', 'measured by billion dollar' instead of 'measured in billion dollars', and 'gems an jewellery' instead of 'gems and jewellery'. There is also a factual error in the text citing the year '2026' instead of 2016.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The bar chart illustrates the value... measured by billion dollar.' However, grammatical control is compromised by errors such as 'The table demonstrate' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'comparing with' instead of 'compared with'. Because the text is abruptly cut off, the grammatical range is extremely limited and cannot be fully evaluated.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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