Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-21

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 5.0)

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN WATER CLOCK

To build this, we need a water bottle, a straw, a support which is made of a hard and heavy metal or made of wood, a tape, another plastic bottle with neck cut off, glue for bonding and a water tap.

Bring the support and cut a waterbottle from the upper side and joint it with the foot of the support. Bring another waterbottle and joint it with the upper side of the metal or wood support by using the tape. Make two holes, one on the upper side of the bottle and one at the bottom. Bont the straw with the upper whole. Now take the whole system beneath the tap.

Fill the upper bottle with water and cover the lower hole with finger so that the water wil be filled in bottle. When the water will reach at certain level like at the level of straw then move back the finger away from the lower hole. In this situation, the water will start to flow through the straw as well as from the lover hole. Make some marks on the neck cut off bottle which is placed at the foot of the support so that we can calculate the timings of water to reach certain levels of the bottle. Your whole system is now ready and you can calculate the timings using a simple water clock system.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response identifies the main equipment and describes a sequence for assembling and using the clock, including filling the upper bottle, releasing the hole, and marking the lower container. However, several important details are inaccurate or unclear: the diagram shows the upper bottle attached to the stand with tape, while the lower bottle with its neck cut off sits at the base; your instructions initially reverse or confuse these positions. The straw is an overflow drain, but you say water flows through it during timing. The stages of keeping the water level constant, measuring levels per minute, and emptying and repeating the process are also not clearly reported. A clearer overview of how water flows from the upper bottle into the marked lower one, followed by accurate stage-by-stage details, would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a broadly understandable order: it lists materials, describes construction, and then explains how to operate the device. This gives the reader a basic progression through the process. However, the information is presented in only two long blocks, and the construction instructions become difficult to follow when the positions of the bottles and support are described. Linking phrases such as “Now” and “In this situation” help signal sequence, but connections between steps are sometimes unclear, and the final explanation combines marking the bottle with timing without clearly separating these actions. Organise the report into a brief overview and distinct construction and operation stages, using clear sequence markers and consistent references to each bottle.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant process vocabulary, including “support,” “straw,” “tape,” “glue,” “marks,” and “calculate the timings,” so the reader can generally identify the equipment and purpose. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the instructions hard to interpret. For example, “joint it” is not the natural verb for attaching components, “Bont the straw” is unclear, and “upper whole” appears to mean the upper hole. “Waterbottle” and “lover hole” also contain spelling errors, while “hard and heavy metal” adds an unsupported material description. Use precise process verbs such as “attach,” “secure,” and “mark,” and name the upper and lower bottles consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to connect steps with longer clauses, for example, “When the water will reach at certain level … then move back the finger,” and “so that we can calculate the timings.” These attempts show some range, but complex sentences are often faulty, and errors recur in verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. The conditional sequence would be clearer as “When the water reaches the level of the straw, remove your finger.” Other examples include “the water wil be filled in bottle,” where the passive construction and article use are problematic, and “which is placed at the foot,” which makes the reference less clear. Practise accurate present-tense instructions and use shorter sentences when describing each action.

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