Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-26

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 provided beneath depicts the stages for making a tap water clock.

The process consist of seven stages, staring by farming tap water and ending by plastic bottle.

The first step is to water is flowing from tap later on it is pouring into plastic bottle, This bottle contains a straw near the neck of bottle inside it there is glue filled at the top, throurgh the straw glue is falling on the ground, subsequently from the container glue is dropping down into another flask, furthermore the level per minute of glue is slightly incresing. The flask has been gradually rising upwards.

In this process the diagram

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response is severely under-length, containing only 107 words compared to the required 150-word minimum. This significantly impacts the coverage of the task, as the writer fails to fully describe the entire seven-stage process shown in the diagram. While there is an attempt to introduce the process ('The provided beneath depicts the stages...'), the description of the individual stages is highly inaccurate and confused. The student mistakes water, glue, and a straw, stating that 'glue is falling on the ground' and 'from the container glue is dropping down'. Essential steps of the water clock mechanism, such as calibrating the lower bottle and the constant water level, are entirely missed. Consequently, the response only partially addresses the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response suffers from severe organizational and structural issues. The text breaks off abruptly at the end ('In this process the diagram') without completing the sentence or the report. Paragraphing is virtually non-existent, with the writing clumped into a brief, disjointed block. While some basic cohesive devices are attempted ('The first step is', 'subsequently', 'furthermore'), the logical progression is broken by severe misinterpretations of the visual data. Pronoun referencing and overall flow are difficult to follow, making the text very hard to read coherently.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is extremely limited and frequently inappropriate for the context. The student severely misidentifies basic elements of the diagram, repeatedly confusing water and a straw with 'glue'. Phrasing such as 'farming tap water' and 'levels per minute of glue' demonstrates a lack of basic lexical control and poor collocation. There are also frequent word choice errors ('The provided beneath', 'staring' instead of 'starting'), which heavily strain the reader's understanding and impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on basic, repetitive sentence patterns that are frequently flawed. There are multiple major grammatical errors, including missing words, incorrect prepositions, and faulty verb forms (e.g., 'The process consist', 'to water is flowing', 'the level per minute... is slightly incresing'). Punctuation and sentence boundary errors are also present, such as comma splices ('...into plastic bottle, This bottle contains...'). The high frequency of structural errors significantly impairs readability.

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