Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The map shows the Centre of the a small town Islip, in addition to its plans for future development.

Overall, the planned developments is mainly focused to improve public facilities and for living. Urbanization is the central theme for the redevelopment.

At present, the town is divided into two sections by a main road. There are a series of shops on both northern and southern side of the main road. There emerges another road from both western and eastern sections which lead to school and park respectively. Most of the southern area is covered by housing and the countryside lies on the northern side.

For the redevelopment, the main road is planned to be converted into a dual carriageway and then again emerge such that most of the town lies between a circular-type road. Some features like school, park and housing are unchanged outside the perimeter of carriageway. However, on the northern section, facilities like bus station, shopping Centre, car park, and new housing are added. The straight main road emerging inside the town will be converted to a pedestrians path only. Additionally, new housing is being constructed southwards to pedestrian path and shops.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The candidate successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the current Islip map and comparing them with the proposed development plans. The overview paragraph is concise and effectively captures the primary trend, noting that urbanization and improved public facilities are the core focus. Key changes, such as the introduction of the dual carriageway ring road, the pedestrianization of the central main road, and the addition of new housing and amenities on the northern side, are accurately reported. Comparisons are made effectively, such as noting that outer features like the school and park remain unchanged while internal facilities are restructured. The response achieves a clear summary without unnecessary detail, matching the Band 7 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response exhibits a clear logical progression throughout, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by the current layout, and concluding with the future developments. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate these distinct aspects of the prompt. Cohesive devices are generally employed effectively to guide the reader, such as 'At present', 'For the redevelopment', 'However', and 'Additionally'. However, there are minor cohesion and referencing flaws, such as 'The map shows the Centre of the a small town Islip', where mechanical flow is slightly disrupted. Overall organisation is coherent, supporting a Band 6.5 to 7.0 score, with descriptors aligning comfortably with Band 7 due to the clear structure and logical sequencing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'urbanization', 'dual carriageway', 'redevelopment', and 'pedestrian path'. The student attempts less common vocabulary with some success, but there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing, such as 'For the redevelopment, the main road is planned to be converted into a dual carriageway and then again emerge such that most of the town lies between a circular-type road.' There are also minor awkward collocations and lexical slips, placing the response securely in the Band 6 range where vocabulary is sufficient for the task despite some errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure through clauses like 'Most of the southern area is covered by housing and the countryside lies on the northern side.' However, grammatical errors and awkward phrasing are present throughout, such as 'the planned developments is mainly focused to improve', which exhibits subject-verb agreement issues and incorrect infinitive complementation. Other errors include missing articles ('shows the Centre of the a small town') and preposition misuse ('on both northern and southern side'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 7.

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

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