Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows average carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per person in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The given graph elicidiates information about the average carbon dioxide emission per person in the United Kindom ,Sweden , Italy and Portugal betweeen the 1967 and 2007

overall , it is clearly shown in the graph the percentage of carbon dioxide per person emission

first of all i have to talk about the emission of CO2 in 1967 .

In 1967 the emission of carbon dioxide in Portugal is 3 percent and in Itlay the emission of CO2 is 4 percent in Sweden the emission of CO2 is 9 percent and in UK the emission of carbon dioxide is almost percent per person

Now look at the year 1977 in year the emission of carbon dioxide is 2 percent in Portugal and 5 percent in Italy and 9 percent in Sweden the percentage iof CO2 in UK year 1977 is decreasing

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the topic and name all four countries, and you attempt to report figures for 1967 and 1977. However, the response is incomplete: it stops after discussing 1977, so it does not describe the later trends or provide a meaningful overview of the main changes. Several figures are inaccurate: Portugal was about 1.2 tonnes in 1967, not 3, and Italy was about 4.3, not 4 percent; the chart measures tonnes, not percentages. The UK figure for 1967 is left unfinished. The overview merely says emissions are shown, rather than summarising key patterns such as the UK’s gradual decline and Italy’s rise. The response is also 9 words below the required minimum. To improve, report the overall trends and compare the countries across the full period using accurate units and selected figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic sequence: you introduce the graph, then move to 1967 and 1977, using phrases such as “first of all” and “Now look at the year 1977.” This gives the reader some sense of order, but the response has no clear paragraph structure and does not progress through the full time period. The opening overview is vague, and the repeated wording “the emission of carbon dioxide” makes the account feel list-like rather than connected. Some sentence boundaries are unclear, particularly in the long sequence of country figures for 1967. Organise the response into an introduction, a concise overview, and detail paragraphs grouped by trends or periods. Use linking phrases to show comparisons, not just to announce the next year.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “average carbon dioxide emission,” “per person,” and “decreasing,” and the country names make the subject clear. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or repetitive. “Percentage” is not appropriate because the graph reports emissions in metric tonnes, while “emission” is repeated many times where “emissions” or a more varied expression would be natural. There are also spelling errors in “elicidiates,” “Kindom,” “betweeen,” and “Itlay,” which reduce precision. Aim to use accurate chart language such as “stood at,” “rose,” “fell,” and “tonnes per person,” while checking spelling and avoiding repeated phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most of your sentences use simple present-tense reporting, and the reader can generally identify the countries and years being discussed. However, sentence control is inconsistent. The opening is not a complete, well-punctuated sentence, and the 1967 figures run together without clear sentence boundaries: “in Sweden the emission … and in UK…” The phrase “in year the emission” is missing an article, and “the percentage … in UK year 1977 is decreasing” has an unclear structure and tense. Capitalisation and punctuation are also unreliable, including lower-case sentence openings and missing full stops. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use past-tense forms consistently when describing historical data.

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