Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-26
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The diagram below shows how electricity is generated in a hydroelectric power station.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 4.5)
The process diagrame illustrates how the electricity is produced in a hydroelectric power station.
Overview, the diagrame begin with the upper river and high level of reservoir morever, ending with the national grid where peovide the electricity in home wherease, top of the high and bottom of the low level reservoir in process diagrame
Firsly, start with there are several steps in process diagraem started river and dam. water is slowly flowed down into the dam whereas, behind the dam is high level reservoired accompained, bottom of the dam intake where day opened and night closed.following, that flowed by water in a day to generate electricity while, are flowed water during pumping in night. in night reveresible turbines pump are flowed water into high level reservoir while, at the day reversible turbine is operated generator power station. and finaly, generator is generated electricity and they are pushed into power lines at end is sent to national grid. as a result, all the process shows that how to produced eletricity in water .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to describe the hydroelectric power station process diagram, but the response suffers from significant comprehension and expression issues. While some main features are mentioned, such as the river, high-level reservoir, dam, reversible turbines, and national grid, the overview is extremely confused and ungrammatical (e.g., 'Overview, the diagrame begin with the upper river...'). Furthermore, key cyclical aspects of the diagram—specifically the day and night operational differences—are jumbled together without clear structuring. The description fails to maintain a clear, logical reporting of the visual data, leading to a partial and somewhat confused treatment of the prompt. This performance aligns best with Band 5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The organisational structure is very weak. The response lacks proper paragraphing, consisting instead of a brief opening and one massive, rambling block of text followed by excessive line breaks. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as 'morever', 'whereas', and 'Firsly, start with there are several steps', which disrupt the flow of reading rather than guiding the reader through the process. Referencing is frequently unclear, making it difficult to follow the sequence of stages from the high-level reservoir down to the power station and back. Overall cohesion is faulty and mechanical, corresponding to a Band 4.5 or 5.0 descriptor.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout. Examples include 'diagrame' (diagram), 'peovide' (provide), 'reservoired' (reservoir), 'reveresible' (reversible), and 'finaly' (finally). The student struggles with basic word forms and collocations, such as 'water is slowly flowed down' and 'generator is generated electricity'. There is little evidence of less common lexical items used accurately, and spelling errors ('eletricity') cause occasional strain for the reader. This meets the criteria for Band 4.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. There is a very limited range of structures, and almost all complex or attempted multi-clause sentences contain severe errors, such as dangling modifiers and broken syntax ('Overview, the diagrame begin with the upper river and high level of reservoir morever, ending with the national grid where peovide the electricity in home...'). Sentences frequently lack main verbs or are structurally incomplete (e.g., 'Firsly, start with there are several steps in process diagraem started river and dam'). Errors in tense, word order, and punctuation are extremely frequent and often obscure the intended meaning, placing this at a Band 4.0 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.