Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows what Anthropology graduates from one university did after finishing their undergraduate degree course. The table shows the salaries of the anthropologists in work after five years.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparison where relevant.

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The given pie chart illustrates the proportion of graduation from one university in Anthropology, and the table shows the salary according to employment

Overall, half of the pie chart is taken by full time work where part time work plus postgrad study have the smallest proportion. Full time post grade study and not known are at same of 8 percent. More than them there was unemployment and part time work 12 and 15 respectively.

There are three different types of employment and their salary based on their graduation, after 5 years. The highest paid employment is government sector

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response is severely incomplete, containing only 98 words, which falls well short of the mandatory 150-word minimum. Because of this under-length, the task is only partially addressed, and key features of the charts are missed entirely—for instance, the table displaying salaries after five years is barely introduced ('The highest paid employment is government sector') and left unfinished. While the student attempts to outline some data from the pie chart, such as 'half of the pie chart is taken by full time work' and 'unemployment and part time work 12 and 15 respectively', the lack of overall development and failure to complete the task pulls the score down into the lower bands. To improve, the student must ensure all parts of the prompt are addressed and write at least 150 words.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response shows an attempt to structure the information logically, beginning with an introductory sentence and trying to group data. However, the progression is disrupted because the text cuts off abruptly mid-sentence at the end. Cohesive devices are minimal and basic, restricted to words like 'where' and 'and'. Paragraphing is poorly handled, as the text is clumped into two underdeveloped blocks, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'More than them there was unemployment'. While there is some organizational intent, the overall arrangement is disjointed, largely due to the incomplete nature of the response. Clearer paragraph breaks and a wider range of transitional markers would greatly enhance the logical flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with frequent inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. Examples include 'proportion of graduation' instead of 'proportion of graduates' and 'Full time post grade study', which contains a spelling error for 'postgraduate'. The student manages to use some topic-relevant terms such as 'unemployment', 'full time work', and 'government sector', but the range is very limited and minimally adequate for the task. Additionally, word formation errors hinder precision. To achieve a higher band score, the student needs to expand their lexical repertoire to include less common academic vocabulary and ensure greater accuracy in word forms and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The text displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and awkward coordination. There are noticeable grammatical errors that cause difficulty for the reader, such as missing prepositions and incorrect phrasing like 'are at same of 8 percent' instead of 'stand at the same figure of 8 percent'. Furthermore, the response ends abruptly with an incomplete sentence ('The highest paid employment is government sector'), demonstrating poor control over complex sentence completion. Punctuation is also sparse and sometimes neglected. To improve, the student must focus on constructing accurate simple and complex sentences while eliminating basic grammatical slips.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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