Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-04

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)

This glaph illustrate average carbon diaoxide emission per person in the united kingdom, swedon,italy,portugual between 1967 and 2007

overall,co2 decreased in unitef kingdom and sweedon, wherease itly and portugual co2 increased.

in uk i967 carbon 10.5 per person and decreased slightly 8.5 in 2007, wheares carbondioxide in swiden was around 8.5 in 1967 and rose up in 1977

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the overall direction of change correctly: emissions fell in the UK and Sweden, while Italy and Portugal rose. You also include approximate starting and ending figures for the UK and Sweden. However, the report is very incomplete: it stops before describing Sweden’s 1977 peak or the later figures, and gives no specific information about Italy or Portugal. The overview is brief and the main comparisons are not developed. The UK figures are close to the chart, though the stated 10.5 is slightly below the approximate 10.8. The response also does not meet the 150-word minimum, so it cannot provide the required summary coverage. Add a complete overview and compare the countries’ key changes and final levels.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening sentence introduces the graph, a separate overview identifies the broad trends, and the final paragraph begins with country-specific details. This gives the reader some sense of progression. However, the response ends abruptly during the Sweden description, and the country information is not arranged into a complete comparison. Linking is limited mainly to “overall” and “wherease,” while the relationship between the figures and the overview is not fully developed. To improve, use clear paragraphs for the overview and detailed comparisons, then connect changes with simple, accurate transitions such as “by contrast,” “while,” and “by 2007.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “average,” “emission,” “per person,” “decreased,” and “increased,” so the general topic is recognisable. However, spelling errors are frequent, including “glaph,” “diaoxide,” “swedon,” and “portugual,” and several country names are not capitalised. These errors reduce clarity and make the vocabulary appear less controlled. Some phrasing is also imprecise: “rose up” is less suitable for describing a graph trend than “rose” or “increased,” and “carbon 10.5 per person” does not clearly express emissions in tonnes. Practise accurate spelling of the four country names and use precise chart language such as “emissions stood at” and “fell to.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt a few sentence forms, including an overview with contrasting trends (“…decreased… whereas… increased”) and a sentence reporting a change over time. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. The opening lacks a clear article and verb agreement (“This glaph illustrate”), and the data sentences omit necessary verbs and prepositions, as in “in uk i967 carbon 10.5 per person.” The final sentence also ends without completing the Sweden trend, leaving the relationship between the figures unclear. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, with missing full stops and spaces after commas. Build complete sentences using patterns such as “In 1967, emissions in the UK stood at…” and check that each sentence has a subject and finite verb.

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