Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-12
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 two maps provided below suggest the current and future plan of the Islip town center. While the current plan only has some facilities, developed future plan includes additional facilities for superior experience.
Current plan has one main road, break downed into 2 paths connecting school and park. With the shop area covering both side of the main road. Accommodations occupying south area of the main road.
For future development, main road will be developed into dual carriageway around Islip town center. Shops on the northern side of the road will be replaced by bust station, shopping center, car park and additional housing area. Housing and shops will occupy the same area as now with additional residences. One major development is going to occur is the development the respective area for pedestrians only between shops and busy northern area.
Overall, the development includes the facilities to provide more convenient urban environment to civilians.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of both maps, highlighting the transition from a simple town centre to a heavily developed one. The candidate successfully identifies key changes such as the introduction of a dual carriageway, the conversion of shops into a bus station, shopping centre, and car park, and the creation of a pedestrian-only zone. However, some descriptions lack precision, and the overall overview is somewhat basic. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the development of ideas could be extended further to achieve a higher band score. Therefore, it fits comfortably into Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into four paragraphs with a logical overall progression from the introduction to current features, future developments, and a brief conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For instance, sentences like 'Current plan has one main road, break downed into 2 paths...' lack proper subjects and linking phrases. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as 'One major development is going to occur is the development the respective area...' which disrupts the flow. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion requires better management. This performance aligns with Band 5.5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with terms like 'dual carriageway', 'pedestrians only', and 'shopping centre' demonstrating appropriate topic-specific language. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'break downed' instead of 'broken down', 'bus station' spelled as 'bust station', and awkward phrasing like 'civilians' instead of 'residents' or 'local people'. The range is sufficient to convey the general meaning, but recurring lexical inaccuracies limit the score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several structural errors and missing articles, such as 'The two maps provided below suggest the current and future plan of the Islip town center', 'Current plan has one main road', and 'the development the respective area for pedestrians'. Furthermore, awkward phrasing like 'One major development is going to occur is the development the...' reveals a lack of control over relative clauses and predicate structures. These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, placing the response at Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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