Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The maps below show the centre of a small town called Islip as it is now, and plans for its development.

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

Student answer (Band 4.0)

The maps below show the centre of a small town called Islip. There is a countryside on north side after that there is a main road from west to east and many shops are along with the main road. A service road connect main road with a park. There are lot of housing society behind the shops and on south side of shops. There is a school on south-west corner which is connected with a main road from west with the help of service road. Those service roads has dead ends and these roads are not connected with each other at any point. The whole picture show that there is a small town with sixteen shops along with a main road. The picture tells us that there are a lot of houses in this town and also a big park which shows that the town is very busy. In the evening, lot of children are playing in the park.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 2.5

The response identifies a few features of the existing town, including the east–west main road, shops, housing, park and school. However, it does not summarise the planned development at all, so it misses the central comparison required by the task and provides no overview of the major changes, such as the pedestrian street and the dual-carriageway loop. Some details are inaccurate or unsupported: the map does not state that there are sixteen shops, that the town is busy, or that children play in the park in the evening. The description of the school as being in the south-west corner is also misleading. The response is 147 words, three words below the 150-word minimum. To improve, describe both maps and focus on the most significant changes rather than inventing details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The ideas are presented in a broadly understandable sequence, moving from the countryside and main road to the surrounding facilities. Basic linking phrases such as “There is” and “also” help connect some information. However, the response is one continuous paragraph and does not clearly separate an overview from specific details or organise the description into the present and planned layouts. Repeated sentence openings and loosely connected claims—particularly the shift from map features to “the town is very busy” and children playing—make the progression less coherent. Use a short overview followed by clearly grouped details, and use location-based links such as “to the north,” “whereas,” and “in the planned layout” to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant vocabulary for describing a town map, including “countryside,” “main road,” “housing,” “park,” “school,” and “dead ends.” These terms make several existing features recognisable. However, the range is limited and some expressions are imprecise or unsuitable for a formal map summary: “housing society” is not the natural term for residential areas, while “busy” and the reference to children playing add unsupported interpretation. Repetition of basic words such as “road,” “shops,” and “town” also limits precision. Build a wider set of accurate map-description terms, including “pedestrianised street,” “dual carriageway,” “shopping centre,” and “is replaced by,” and use them only for features shown.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to combine information into longer sentences, for example by using “which” to explain how the school is connected to the main road. Most of the basic meaning can be followed, but errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction are frequent. Examples include “A service road connect,” “Those service roads has,” and “There is a countryside”; these should be “A service road connects,” “Those service roads have,” and “There is countryside.” Several clauses are joined with little punctuation, making the opening difficult to read. There is also inconsistent control of singular and plural forms. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then combine them with correctly punctuated clauses and check subject–verb agreement and article use.

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