Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-19

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar charts and line graph below show the results of a survey conducted over a three-year period to discover what people who live in London think of the city.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

What are the best things about living in London?

Student answer (Band 4.5)

According to the charts and line graphics that shows what is the benefits of living in London and the negative things about living in London we can clearly notice that people who live there are pleased about the range of shops that offers what they seek , also we can see that one of the advantages of living their is that job opportunities are available also we can see that the fact of being a different people from a different backgrounds make life more interesting and we can see that transport and night life is the least of the people's favorite advantages for living there yet some people are happy indeed with it.

On the other hand, now we discuss the worst things about living in London and the first thing that clearly doesn't please people there is the cost of living after all living in a very interesting spot isn't cheap at all even though through the years it becomes less expensive a little bit and start rising again also the spread of crimes even it get a little lower and start rising again in the third year and not to forget the coust of housing and transport are troubling people especially those who aren't making enough money to pay

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe the charts and line graph, mentioning several key features such as the range of shops, job opportunities, cost of living, and crime rates. However, the report lacks a clear overview, which is essential for Band 6 and above in Academic Task 1. Furthermore, the descriptions are quite general and fail to accurately report or compare the specific data figures provided in the visual prompts. The writing tends to wander into a conversational tone ('now we discuss the worst things about living in London') rather than maintaining a formal academic register. While it addresses the general topic, the lack of data selection, comparison, and an overall summary limits the task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The response suffers significantly from a lack of proper punctuation and paragraphing. The entire text consists of only two extremely long, run-on sentences connected by a string of conjunctions like 'and' and 'also'. There are no full stops to separate independent clauses, making the flow chaotic and difficult to read. Cohesive devices are repetitive and mechanical ('also we can see that', 'and we can see that'), and referencing is unclear in places (e.g., 'being a different people from a different backgrounds'). Paragraph structure is violated, as the response lacks a distinct introduction, body paragraphs with clear breaks, or a concluding summary.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is largely basic and repetitive, relying heavily on common words and phrases like 'things', 'good', 'bad', and 'living'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'line graphics' instead of 'line graph', 'living their' instead of 'living there', 'different people from a different backgrounds' (ungrammatical noun phrase), and 'coust' (spelling error for cost). While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary related to the prompt (e.g., 'job opportunities', 'cost of living', 'crime'), the frequent errors and limited range restrict the score to this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text is characterised by massive run-on sentences that string together multiple clauses without any terminal punctuation (periods). There is a near-total absence of correct punctuation, which severely impedes readability. While the student attempts some complex structures, these are frequently faulty or ungrammatical, such as subordinate clauses lacking proper agreement or punctuation breaks (e.g., 'even it get a little lower and start rising again'). Simple sentence forms are also poorly controlled due to missing subjects or incorrect verb forms.

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

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