Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-08-20

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the average number of hours that women in various age groups and women with varying levels of education spend on primary activities each week.

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

Average hours per week women spent in selected primary activities, by age and educational attainment, 2009

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The bar graph illustrates the number of American adults working in different fields of employment in 2003 and 2013. Overall, the numbers of businessmen, medical employees, and unemployed people decreased, while the figures for the other employment categories increased. In 2003, around 8%, 3%, and 10% of American adults were employed in education, the hotel industry, and building, respectively. These figures rose to almost 30% in 2013. The number of self-employed adults almost tripled, increasing from approximately 10% to just over 30% during the period. Around 46% of the American working population ran their own businesses in 2003, but this figure fell to nearly 27% after ten years. Similarly, the number of people working in medical centres decreased from 20% in 2003, while the proportion of unemployed people fell from 10% to 5% in 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 2.0

The response fails to address the task entirely. The prompt asks for a summary of a bar chart regarding women's primary activities by age and education level. However, the student has written about American adults' employment fields in 2003 and 2013. This is a completely different topic, likely a memorized response or a misinterpretation of the provided image. Furthermore, the response is under the 150-word minimum requirement. Because the content is irrelevant to the provided data, it cannot be assessed for task achievement in a meaningful way, resulting in a very low score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The response is written as a single paragraph, which lacks the necessary structure for an IELTS Task 1 report. While there is some attempt at logical sequencing using transition words like 'Overall' and 'Similarly', the lack of clear paragraphing and the irrelevance of the content make the progression difficult to follow. Cohesive devices are used in a mechanical fashion, and the overall organization is insufficient for a formal report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for describing trends (e.g., 'increased', 'decreased', 'tripled', 'proportion'), but it is applied to the wrong data set. There is no evidence of a wide range of vocabulary or the ability to use less common items with precision. The lexical choices are repetitive and basic, reflecting a limited range that does not demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are few grammatical errors in the sentences themselves, such as 'the numbers of businessmen... decreased'. However, the range of structures is limited. While the grammar is generally accurate, the lack of complexity and the fact that the content is entirely off-topic limits the potential for a higher score.

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

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