Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-21

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 4.0)

The line graph illustrate the number of foreigners visiting a particular Caribbean island from 2010 and 2017.

Overall, the number of tourists staying on the island increased significantly despite a slight decline in 2016. while Cruise-ship visitors increased from about 0.25 million to 2 million. The remaining category fluctuated and ended at around 1.5 million.

Firstly, vis

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the general subject and includes a brief overview, noting growth in cruise-ship visitors and a fluctuation in the other category. However, it misidentifies the island-staying group as having increased significantly: this figure rose from about 0.75 million to 1.5 million, with a small dip in 2016. More importantly, the report stops after “Firstly, vis” and gives no supporting account of the yearly figures or key comparisons, so the main features are only minimally covered. The response is also substantially below the required 150 words. To improve, complete the report and describe the overall total’s rise from 1 million to 3.5 million, alongside the contrasting trends in the two visitor groups.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening sentence is followed by an overview, and “Overall” signals the summary stage. This gives the reader a starting structure. However, the response ends abruptly at “Firstly, vis,” so there is no developed body paragraph or logical progression through the data. The transition from the overview to “Firstly” is not completed, and the lowercase “while” after a full stop also disrupts the flow. Use a complete paragraph for the overview, then organise the detailed comparisons by trend or time period, with clear links such as “By contrast” and “By 2017.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “number of tourists,” “increased,” “decline,” “fluctuated,” and “million,” which allows the broad trends to be understood. However, the range is very limited because the report is unfinished, and some choices are imprecise: “foreigners” is not equivalent to tourists, while “the remaining category” is vague when the island-staying group can be named directly. “Cruise-ship visitors” is understandable, but “visitors staying on cruise ships” more accurately reflects the graph’s category. Build a wider set of precise terms for describing figures and comparisons, and use the chart’s labels consistently. This will make the account clearer and more appropriate to Academic Task 1.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both a simple opening sentence and a more complex overview, including the concessive structure “despite a slight decline in 2016.” However, grammatical control is uneven. In “The line graph illustrate,” the singular subject requires “illustrates,” and “from 2010 and 2017” should use “to” rather than “and.” The sentence beginning “while” is incorrectly separated from the preceding sentence and should begin with a capital letter or be joined appropriately. The final fragment, “Firstly, vis,” is incomplete and provides no evidence of control in a developed paragraph. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, prepositions in time ranges, and complete sentence construction.

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