Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-11

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)

Given diagrame shoe how to build yor own dwater clock first off all i put a plasstic bottel and fixed in the stand with the tape and start to fill the bottl with water i fill top bottel to overflow on the top a straw fixed in the bottel straw cam water thatis above the constant level when fill the bottel the finger cover the hole that is the end of bottel when bottel is fill on the constant level finger away from the hole and water start to flow in the bottel that is fixed below the plastic bottel and leaves per minute it fills slowly top bottel can empty slowly plstic bottel cut off and made a scale on it emty and repeate process for timing things on the bottel scales are show in this way we made her own water clock

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response identifies the main purpose of the diagram and includes several relevant stages: attaching the upper bottle to a stand, filling it until overflow, releasing the hole, and repeating the process to time things. However, the account is incomplete and some details are unclear or inaccurate. For example, the straw is described as carrying water “above the constant level,” but its role as an overflow drain is not clearly explained; the lower bottle’s calibration marks and the measurement of levels per minute are also only vaguely covered. The sequence is difficult to follow, and there is no clear overview of how the apparatus works as a whole. The response is also six words below the required minimum. A fuller, more precise description of the setup and all key stages would strengthen task coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to present the process in sequence, moving from assembling and filling the upper bottle to allowing water to flow into the lower one and repeating the timing process. This gives the reader some sense of the overall procedure. However, the response is written as one long run-on passage, with almost no punctuation or paragraphing, so the stages are not clearly separated. Connections such as “when,” “and,” and “that is” are repeated or used in ways that make relationships between steps hard to understand. For instance, the transition from covering the hole to filling the bottle is unclear. Use a short introduction, an overview, and clearly ordered stage descriptions with linking phrases such as “once,” “next,” and “finally.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small set of relevant words, including “plastic bottle,” “stand,” “tape,” “straw,” “hole,” and “scale,” so the reader can recognise the topic. However, vocabulary is basic and repetitive, and several spelling errors strain understanding, including “diagrame,” “bottel,” “emty,” and “repeate.” Some word choices are imprecise: “leaves per minute” appears to refer to levels or markings per minute, while “straw cam water” does not clearly describe the straw’s function. More accurate process vocabulary would help convey the diagram, such as “overflow outlet,” “calibration marks,” “drips,” and “container.” Check spelling carefully and choose verbs that describe each action precisely rather than repeating “fill” and “bottle.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe several actions and their order, but sentence structures are very limited and frequent grammatical errors make the process difficult to follow. Most ideas are joined into one extended sentence, with missing sentence boundaries and punctuation. Verb forms and sentence construction are often faulty, as in “when bottel is fill on the constant level finger away from the hole,” where the relationship between the actions is not grammatically expressed. Articles and agreement are also inconsistent, and clauses are often incomplete. Practise writing one clear sentence for each stage, using accurate passive forms where appropriate—for example, “The upper bottle is attached to the stand” and “The hole is covered until the bottle is full.” This would make the sequence much easier to understand.

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