Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-14
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below shows the number of tourists visiting a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 4.5)
The given chart illustrates the numbers of tourists visiting particular Carribbean island over the period of 2010 to 2017.
There have been rise in numbers over this period in both categories of tourists visiting via cruise ships rose from 0.25 to 2 million and people staying on island from 0.75 to 1.5 million.Over all there have been increased number of tourists during this period.
Total number of visitors increased from 1 to 3.5 million
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the chart by noting the initial and final figures for tourists visiting via cruise ships and those staying on the island. However, the response is severely limited by its length. The task requires a minimum of 150 words, but this response contains only 74 words. Consequently, the data is not fully reported, comparisons are minimal, and the overview is extremely brief and fragmented. This falls under the Band 4 descriptor, as the task is addressed only minimally.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The text lacks proper paragraphing, presented instead as a series of disconnected, broken sentences. There is an attempt at an overview marker ('Over all'), but overall progression is absent due to the extreme brevity of the text. Cohesive devices are largely missing or poorly handled, resulting in choppy and disjointed flow. For example, sentences run into each other without adequate punctuation or conjunctions ('...both categories of tourists visiting via cruise ships rose from 0.25 to 2 million and people staying on island from 0.75 to 1.5 million. Over all there have been increased number...'). These characteristics align with a Band 4 score for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for conveying basic data points ('tourists', 'numbers', 'categories', 'visitors'). However, there are notable spelling errors, such as 'Carribbean' instead of Caribbean, and missing articles ('staying on island' instead of 'staying on the island'). The range of vocabulary is quite limited and repetitive, failing to utilise more sophisticated lexical items appropriate for Academic Task 1. These limitations place the response firmly at Band 5 for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The response contains major grammatical errors, most notably run-on sentences and missing articles. For instance, the sentence starting with 'There have been rise in numbers...' lacks an article ('a rise') and suffers from subject-verb agreement issues. Punctuation is also problematic, as seen in the missing full stop at the end of the second paragraph. While some simple structures are understandable, the structural control is weak, justifying a Band 4 for grammatical range and accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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