Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-29

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 diagram illustrates the various stages involved in the process of making a water clock.

Ovearall, the process comprises 7 stages,beginning with tap on and cluminating in empty and repeat process for timing things. The entire procedure involves a series og mechanical steps.

Initially, the frist stage was tap on .Once this stage has ben completed,cover hole with finger otherwise it would be licked. after that ,the next step was fill top bottlr to overflow glue .subsequently,level constant the hole bottle and tape around the bottle .

following this,finger away from whole ,which is followed by next stage .at this point plastic bottle cut off at the center . levels per minutes is checked befot being the last stage . at last , eampty and repeated process for timing things marks the completion of the process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to describe the process of making a water clock, identifying the 7 stages shown in the diagram. However, the student fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, reaching only 136 words. Furthermore, the description of the steps is heavily reliant on lifting raw phrases directly from the prompt (e.g., "tap on", "cover hole with finger", "fill top bottle to overflow") rather than paraphrasing or fully explaining the mechanical process. While the overall purpose of the diagram is acknowledged, the lack of adequate length and undeveloped explanation of the visual details prevent the response from achieving a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text attempts a logical progression by following the numbered stages in the diagram. However, the paragraphing is very basic, and the heavy reliance on fragmented sentences impedes clear progression. Cohesive devices are minimal or mechanically applied (e.g., "Initially", "after that", "subsequently", "following this"). Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall structural flow suffers from abrupt transitions between the poorly integrated steps. Consequently, coherence is disrupted, placing this criterion at band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is largely restricted to words and phrases directly copied from the prompt, such as "water clock", "tap on", and "timing things". There are numerous spelling errors and typos throughout the text (e.g., "Ovearall" instead of Overall, "cluminating" instead of culminating, "frist" instead of first, "bottlr" instead of bottle, "eampty" instead of empty). The range of vocabulary is extremely limited and repetitive, which causes frequent difficulties for the reader and severely restricts lexical scoring.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures. Most sentences are simple or poorly constructed attempts at complex forms that contain severe structural errors (e.g., "Once this stage has ben completed,cover hole with finger otherwise it would be licked"). Punctuation and capitalization are erratic, with multiple spaces, missing spaces after punctuation marks, and uncapitalized sentence beginnings. Grammatical errors are frequent and often distort the intended meaning, matching the band 4 descriptor.

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

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