Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-17

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 4.5)

The chart illustrates the developing of a water clock.

overall, it can be seen clear that there are seven stages in the water process such as tap on, hole, fill top bottle, level constant, finger away from whole, level per minute, and drop from whole and repat process for timeing things.

Firstly, the tap of water open under the plastic bottle and close the hole with a finger after attach the straw top of the bottle for level. Moreover, when water reached to the straw in the bottle so the lvel is constant an then away finger from the tiny hole.

Furthermore, the water drop is starting under the plastic bar which has no neck and the water are countinusly dropping from the hole into the bottle and this is the real measurment of the minute of level also empty the bottle and reapt this process again and agian for the tming things.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to describe the seven-stage process of building and operating a water clock as presented in the diagram. An overview is attempted at the beginning with 'overall, it can be seen clear that there are seven stages...'. However, the response struggles significantly with accurate reporting and development of the process steps. Several mechanical descriptions are confused or distorted, such as 'tap of water open under the plastic bottle' and 'attach the straw top of the bottle for level'. The relationship between the upper bottle, the overflow straw, the dripping hole, and the lower calibration bottle is muddled rather than clearly explained. While all stages from 1 to 7 are touched upon in a fragmented way, the overall explanation lacks the clarity and precision required for a higher band. It meets the minimum length requirement, but the underdeveloped and imprecise description places it firmly at band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is structured into an introduction and two very short body paragraphs, attempting to follow the chronological order of the process. However, cohesion is frequently faulty and mechanical. Words like 'overall' (miscapitalised and incorrectly punctuated), 'Firstly', 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', and 'an then' are used awkwardly to link sentences. Paragraphing is weak, with the entire core process lumped together into dense, hard-to-follow sentences. Referencing is also unclear at times, such as 'away finger from the tiny hole', where pronoun use or grammatical omission makes the logical progression hard to track. The organization shows some basic structure but lacks overall clear progression and smooth cohesive flow, reflecting band 5.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple words directly lifted from the prompt labels, such as 'tap', 'hole', 'bottle', 'straw', and 'water'. There are numerous word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'developing' instead of 'development', 'clear' instead of 'clearly', 'lvel' instead of 'level', 'repat' instead of 'repeat', 'timeing' instead of 'timing', and repeated confusion between 'hole' and 'whole'. Less common lexical items are either absent or incorrectly used, such as 'real measurment'. The lexical range is limited and barely adequate for the task, with errors frequently causing strain or misunderstanding for the reader, matching the criteria for a band 4.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are poorly constructed attempts at complex forms that break down grammatically. For instance, 'when water reached to the straw in the bottle so the lvel is constant an then away finger from the tiny hole' contains multiple severe errors in tense, subject-verb agreement, and missing prepositions/verbs. Punctuation and capitalization are erratic (e.g., 'overall, it can be seen clear...'). Errors are extremely frequent and often distort the meaning, making it difficult for the reader to grasp the exact mechanical steps without looking back at the diagram. This level of grammatical control corresponds to a band 4.0.

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

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