Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

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

Overall, a major change has observed in the centre while buildings for school remained the same. Nowadays, city centre has two lanes of shops beside countryside which in future might changed into a shopping centre having a bus station and car parking.

Regarding the first map, today there is a park on east side opposite to housing area. One housing sector and school lies in south while, opposte to country side two lanes of shops are built, having a main road in centre.

Turning to the second map, in future builders are planning to build a shopping mall by pushing shops to the centre of the town. They are planning to built a road only for pedestrians in between the shopping mall and shops.They want to introduced new housing sector in north-east direction. In future, dual carriageway will be build on west-south side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the maps’ overall purpose and note important changes, including the pedestrian-only street, new shopping facilities and housing, and the school remaining in place. These are relevant features, and the response addresses both the present and planned layouts. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the shops north of the main road are replaced by a bus station, shopping centre and car park, rather than simply becoming a shopping centre, and the dual carriageway forms a loop around the centre, not just on its “west-south side.” The overview also misses the retained southern shops and the reduced park. To strengthen the summary, compare the main changes more precisely and include the loop road and the reorganisation of land uses south of the shops.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the current and planned maps. Phrases such as “Regarding the first map” and “Turning to the second map” help signal the shift between stages. The main limitation is that some information is grouped or connected in ways that make the layout harder to follow. For example, the overview combines the shops, countryside and future facilities without clearly distinguishing their positions, while the final paragraph moves from the shopping mall to housing and then the road without explaining the overall arrangement. Use clearer spatial sequencing—north to south or west to east—and link each change to its location. This would make the progression more precise and less list-like.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “main road,” “housing sector,” “pedestrians,” and “dual carriageway,” and attempt to describe change with phrases such as “remained the same” and “pushing shops to the centre.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or informal for this task. “Pushing shops” does not clearly describe their replacement, and “shopping mall” is less precise than the map’s “shopping centre.” There are also spelling errors such as “illutrate,” “opposte,” and “car parking,” as well as awkward phrasing like “two lanes of shops.” Aim for accurate labels and natural location language, such as “two rows of shops” and “the shops north of the main road will be replaced by…”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, and the response is generally understandable. However, some errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction remain. For example, “a major change has observed” needs a passive form (“has been observed”), while “in future might changed” requires “might change.” In “One housing sector and school lies,” the plural subject requires “lie,” and “builders are planning to build” is followed later by the incorrect form “planning to built.” Articles and prepositions also need attention, as in “on east side” and “in centre.” Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb, and use consistent future forms when describing the planned map.

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