Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-18

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)

The diagram shows the process for making a water clock and in the write a report for a university lecturer describing the information .

Overall , Build your own water in the clock its can be stad plastic bottle in the said have water open the tape becaus straw and go in the glue plastic bottle alos cut the neck .

At the beginning ,tap on cover hole with finger and fill top bottle to overflow in the level constant finger away from hole levels per minute

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the topic as a water-clock process and includes several stages, such as turning on the tap, covering the hole, filling the upper bottle, and moving a finger away. However, it does not give a clear, accurate account of how the apparatus is assembled or how the clock is used. The overview is difficult to interpret, and key details are missing, including the stand, the straw’s overflow function, the lower bottle, and marking levels per minute. The final instruction to empty and repeat the process is also omitted. The response is substantially below the required 150 words, with 69 words; 18 words copied from the prompt were excluded from that count. Develop a clear overview and describe the main construction and operating stages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the report, using “Overall” and “At the beginning,” and the latter introduces a sequence of actions. However, the ideas are not developed into clear, connected stages. The overview sentence combines several construction details in a way that is hard to follow, while the final sentence runs together multiple steps without showing their order or relationship. There are no paragraph breaks to distinguish the overview from the process description, and the sequence stops before the final stage. Use a short overview paragraph followed by a step-by-step account, with clear links such as “Next,” “Once the bottle is full,” and “Finally.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “water clock,” “plastic bottle,” “straw,” “glue,” “tap,” and “hole,” so the reader can recognise the general subject. However, the range is narrow and several word choices or spellings make the description difficult to understand, for example “stad plastic bottle,” “in the said,” and “alos cut the neck.” Some labels from the diagram are repeated rather than used to explain the equipment’s function. Aim for precise process vocabulary and accurate spelling, such as describing the bottle as “attached to a stand” and the straw as an “overflow outlet.” This would make the limited description clearer and more appropriate for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response attempts a few sentence forms, including an opening statement and a sequence introduced by “At the beginning,” but grammatical control is weak and meaning is often unclear. For example, “The diagram shows the process … and in the write a report” contains an incomplete, incorrectly joined clause, while “its can be stad plastic bottle” does not form a clear sentence. Articles, verb forms, and sentence boundaries are also unreliable, and the final line strings several actions together without clear grammatical links. Use short, complete sentences first, with a clear subject and verb for each stage; then add simple sequencing clauses, such as “After the hole is covered, the upper bottle is filled until it overflows.”

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