Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-23

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the percentage of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 2011.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The bar chart compares the proportions of households who had owned and tolet accomadations in England and Wales over the period 1918 and 2011.

Overall, It is clearly seen that the number of rented accomadation had decline throughout the period ,Whereas the percentage of owned accomodation had a steady increase and reached at highest trend in 2001 .While in the year 1971, there was a noticeable change ,where both the states had shared equal number of housing and afterwards ,the number of owned houses had dramatically increased .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The student attempts to summarise the main features of the chart, noting the overall downward trend in rented accommodation and the upward trend in owned accommodation, as well as the crossover point in 1971. However, the response is severely under-length, containing only 88 words compared to the required 150-word minimum. This significantly limits the extent to which the visual data can be reported and compared. While key trends are identified, the lack of development and failure to meet the minimum word count restricts the task achievement score to Band 4.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The text is presented in a single paragraph body following a brief introduction, which is insufficient for proper structuring of a Task 1 response. There are attempts at cohesive devices such as 'Overall,' 'Whereas,' and 'While,' but punctuation and capitalization are faulty throughout (e.g., 'Overall, It is clearly seen...'). The logical progression is somewhat disjointed due to the compressed nature of the summary and poor sentence boundary control. Cohesion is mechanical and inadequate, corresponding to Band 4.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and contains several spelling errors, such as 'accomadations' instead of accommodations and 'decline' instead of declined. Phrases like 'both the states had shared' are unnatural in this context. While the student attempts some less common vocabulary ('dramatically increased', 'steady increase'), the frequent spelling mistakes and inaccurate word choices ('states' instead of sectors or types of housing) strain the reader and reflect a Band 4.5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple or awkwardly joined complex sentences. There are notable grammatical errors, including tense inconsistencies ('had decline' instead of declined), incorrect prepositions, and faulty verb forms ('had reached at highest trend'). Punctuation is also problematic with extra spaces before commas. Due to the high frequency of errors relative to the short text length, a Band 4.0 is appropriate.

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

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