Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-23

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The given bar chart illustrates the proportion of households annual income in the US, over the period from 2007 to 2011.

In this current era of scientifical and technological progress, we found ourselves in a modern world, where it is crucial that different people have Diverse mindets, level of understanding regarding the given data.

Overall, its was observed that, in the period of 2007, the highest annual income of households was approximately around 29 million US dollars, and the lowest income was around 14 million US dollars, in contrast to that in 2011, the maximum annual income of us households was almost around $30M, furthermore, the minimum income was around $12M, moreover in 2015 the topmost turnover was , and lowermost

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The student fails to fully address the task. Firstly, the response is significantly under-length at 121 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum, which heavily restricts task coverage. Secondly, the writer misinterprets the data categories, confusing income brackets with overall proportions, and completely omits the year 2015 despite mentioning it mid-sentence before trailing off. The text ends abruptly mid-sentence ('topmost turnover was , and lowermost'), leaving the overview and data selection severely incomplete. According to the descriptors for Band 4, the response addresses the task only minimally and fails to present a complete or coherent overview of the main features.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The organizational structure of the response breaks down rapidly. After an initial introductory sentence, the student inserts a bizarre, irrelevant introductory paragraph about 'scientifical and technological progress' and 'Diverse mindets'. The body paragraphs lack clear logical progression, and the text ends mid-sentence without completing the final thought. Cohesive devices are either misused or absent, and referencing is faulty throughout. Paragraphing is not used effectively, as the essay is disjointed and incomplete. This corresponds closely to the Band 4 descriptor where information and ideas are not arranged coherently and progression is lacking.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and occasionally nonsensical or misspelled, such as 'scientifical' and 'mindets'. The student attempts to discuss financial data but uses incorrect collocations like 'annual income of households was approximately around 29 million US dollars' instead of referring to the number of households in specific brackets. Due to the severe truncation of the text and recurrent word choice errors, the lexical range is extremely limited and strains the reader. This performance aligns with Band 4 descriptors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The grammatical range is extremely restricted. The response relies on poorly constructed, overly long run-on sentences joined by commas, such as the second sentence in the main body. There are frequent errors in punctuation and sentence structure, culminating in an unfinished sentence at the end of the text. While there are a few simple structures that are understandable, the density of grammatical faults and the incomplete nature of the writing prevent it from reaching a higher band. It fits the Band 4 profile where errors are frequent and sentence structures are severely compromised.

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

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