Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-15

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows the process for making a water clock.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WATER CLOCK

Student answer (Band 4.0)

I'm telling the process how to build our own water clock.

Equipments needed:we need a water tap with water connection.Then we need a bottel.One measuring cylinder.Stand or straw.

Fixing.first we put a stand under the tap from where the water come.Then we fix the bottel with the help of tape on the top of the stand and do hole in the bottel.Then fix an straw with the help of glue in the whole which we done in the bottel.Put measuring cylinder at the bottom of the stand.

steps to build water clock.

On the water tap.

Put finger on the hole we done in the bottel.Fill the whole bottel with water untill the bottel gets whole fill till top to make the over flow.After filling the whole bottel then put finger out from the bottel hole.Do consentrate on the cylinder we put at the bottom of the stand.Then note the time of the water drops coming in the cylinder.The water comes per minute in cylinder shows the time and level.Repeat the process again and again.

This is the way from which we make our own water clock.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response attempts to describe the process of making a water clock, covering several steps shown in the visual diagram, such as attaching the bottle to a stand, filling it with water, and noting the drops in a measuring cylinder. However, the tone and style are completely inappropriate for an academic task, reading more like an informal personal instruction manual ("I'm telling the process...", "Equipments needed:"). Furthermore, there is no proper overview of the overall process, and key visual details such as the horizontal overflow straw and the calibration markings are missed or poorly described. Task achievement is severely limited by the inappropriate register and incomplete coverage of the diagram's mechanical features, placing it firmly at Band 4.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.5

The essay lacks formal paragraphing conventions expected in academic writing, relying instead on bullet-like fragments and conversational headings such as "Fixing." and "steps to build water clock.". Cohesive devices are extremely basic and repetitive, depending heavily on simple temporal connectors like "Then" and "After filling". There is a lack of sophisticated referencing or substitution, making the progression of ideas disjointed and mechanical. Although the steps follow a chronological sequence that mirrors the diagram, the overall structural organisation falls short of Band 5 standards in terms of cohesive management and academic layout.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and restricted to everyday language. The student commits several severe lexical and spelling errors, such as "Equipments" (equipment is uncountable), "bottel" (bottle), and "consentrate" (concentrate). Phrases like "whole fill till top" and "put finger out" demonstrate a lack of idiomatic collocation and poor control over word choice. There is no attempt to use less common academic or technical vocabulary related to process descriptions, such as "apparatus", "mechanism", or "calibrated". This range is inadequate and regularly strains the reader, corresponding to a Band 4.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the text, featuring heavy reliance on simple sentence structures and frequent imperative forms ("On the water tap", "Put finger on the hole"). When the student attempts complex or multi-clause sentences, they are frequently faulty, as seen in "The water comes per minute in cylinder shows the time and level." There are persistent errors in prepositions ("in the whole which we done"), verb forms, and articles. Punctuation is also erratic. Because errors are frequent, distort meaning in places, and severely limit the structural range, the grammar aligns with Band 4.0.

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