Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-21

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)

rivers are the main soures of generating electricity through water.they contain fresh water that comes through melting glaciers antd lakes. water is stored in dams which are high level of reservoir water.dams are life for nations because they provide through canals and generate electricity.they are open at day tme and closed at night.when the spillways of dams are open ,waterflow that generate electricity at day time. at night time these spillways are closed through which water is flow.flow of water is reversed back through pumping and stored again.then electricity is generated in power station through turbines.turbines produce electricity by rotating their fanes . electricity is transferred in power lines which go to grid. grid stations are main storage area from where electricity is transferredto other areas.at day time water goes to low level reservoir but night time goes bact to turbines and then water is used to generate electricity.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant stages, including water passing through turbines, electricity travelling by power lines to the grid, and water moving to the low-level reservoir during the day before being pumped back at night. However, the response does not give a clear, accurate overview of the complete cycle. It incorrectly suggests that electricity is generated at night and describes the intake as “spillways”; the diagram shows the intake open by day and closed at night, with the turbines generating electricity by day and pumping water uphill at night. The opening discussion of glaciers, lakes, and dams as “life for nations” is not supported by the diagram and takes space from the process. The response is also one word below the required minimum. Cover the diagram’s stages accurately and focus only on its information.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response follows a broadly chronological order, moving from water storage to electricity generation and then to the return of water at night. This gives the reader some sense of the process. However, the ideas are presented as one continuous paragraph, and the sequence is difficult to follow because several stages are repeated or placed unclearly. For example, “then electricity is generated” comes after the description of nighttime pumping, while the final sentence again describes the day and night cycle. Connections such as “when,” “through which,” and “then” do not always make the relationships between stages clear. Use separate paragraphs for an overview and the process details, and organise the stages in a clear day-to-night sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant process vocabulary, including “reservoir,” “turbines,” “pumping,” “power lines,” and “grid,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or imprecise: “spillways” is not the label shown in the diagram, and “grid stations” incorrectly describes the national grid as a storage area. Phrases such as “waterflow that generate electricity” and “turbines produce electricity by rotating their fanes” also show difficulty selecting natural, precise wording. Spelling errors, including “soures,” “bact,” and “fanes,” further reduce clarity. Build a bank of accurate process terms and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to connect ideas using clauses such as “when the spillways of dams are open” and “from where electricity is transferred,” but most sentences rely on simple patterns, and errors are frequent. Subject–verb agreement is inconsistent in “waterflow that generate electricity,” while “water is flow” and “water goes to low level reservoir” show problems with verb forms and articles. Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also weak: the opening runs together as “water.they,” and many sentences begin with lowercase letters. These errors sometimes make the process difficult to interpret, particularly around the nighttime operation. Practise accurate present-simple descriptions of processes, including passive forms such as “water is pumped,” and proofread each sentence for agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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.