Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-19

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 6.0)

The maps compare the planned development of Islip town centre with the current situation.

Overall, there is only main road that passes through the whole twon with no padestrian street, bus station and car parking area which are planned in the development phase. However, school and park will remain at the same location with access from the dual carriageway forcasted to be constructed in future.

Currently, the town has a main road that passes through the centre of the islip town and is surrounded by the shops. In future, there will be a ring road that will surround the whole city and will give easy access to every place like schools, parks, shopping centre, bus station and housing.In future, shops and the countryside on the North of the main road will be replaced by the bus station, shopping centre and car parking area and new housing will be created on the east of parking area. The pedestraian road will be constructed in the centre where there was a main road.

The South of the road will remain considerably unchanged with just the addition of new housing society. In future, the town will be more structured than it is these days.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key features of the maps, providing a clear comparison between the current layout of Islip and the planned developments. The overview effectively highlights major structural changes, such as the introduction of a dual carriageway and a pedestrianised centre. Key details are reported accurately, including the replacement of shops with a bus station, shopping centre, and car park in the north, and the retention of the school and park in the south. However, there are minor typos in places, such as 'islip' instead of 'Islip', but the selection and reporting of main features meet the requirements for a Band 7 level.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organised into an introduction, body paragraphs detailing specific spatial changes, and a brief concluding sentence. Cohesive devices such as 'Currently', 'In future', and 'On the North' are used to guide the reader through the maps. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate current and future descriptions. However, referencing and logical progression could be smoother, as some sentences feel slightly disjointed, such as 'Overall, there is only main road that passes through the whole twon with no padestrian street...' These minor cohesion and referencing issues place this criterion at Band 6.5, rounded to 6.0 based on standard band scoring, though 6.5 is fully justifiable for clear paragraphing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suited to describing maps and urban development, such as 'surrounded', 'replaced', 'pedestrians only', and 'dual carriageway'. There are, however, several spelling and word-choice errors, including 'twon' (town), 'padestrian' (pedestrian), 'forcasted' (forecasted), and 'pedestraian' (pedestrian). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they demonstrate lapses in lexical control and spelling that prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and future tense constructions (e.g., 'there will be a ring road that will surround the whole city'). There are noticeable grammatical and mechanical errors, such as missing articles ('there is only main road', 'on the east of parking area') and spelling slips. Despite these errors, the structures are generally understandable and communication is not impeded, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.

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

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