Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)
The maps below show the centre of a small town called Islip now,and plans for its development. In the plans of develpoment the direction of road is change and the amount of shops also decrease. First off all, the old town shows the main road is west to east and the both sides of have some shops and the west side of shops in the inner side of south is the small road who increase to the school and the east sides of shops in the inner side of south the road travel to the park and between school and park is the housing area.And the outer side of shops north side is the countryside. After planned development the direction of main road is change from west to east to the cercular shape and the shops of north side change to the car parking, shopping center, and bus station. Park and school in same places and between two old housing place and set the new housing place and the old main road convert into Pedestrians only.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to summarize the main changes between the two maps, noting the transformation of the main road into a circular dual carriageway, the pedestrianisation of the central street, and the replacement of northern shops with a bus station, shopping centre, and car park. However, the overview is extremely basic and lacks a well-developed summary of the overall spatial dynamics. Furthermore, several descriptions are imprecise or hard to follow, such as the descriptions of the housing and side roads. The student covers the main features superficially, placing the response firmly at Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The organization of the text is very weak, lacking clear paragraphing and logical transitions. The response essentially consists of a run-on block of text following a short introductory sentence. Cohesive devices are minimal or misused, such as 'First off all' and 'After planned development', which makes the progression disjointed. Referencing between sentences is often unclear, leaving the reader struggling to follow spatial relationships. Overall, the structure reflects the characteristics of a Band 4.0 response.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is very limited and repetitive. The student relies on basic terms such as 'shops', 'road', 'housing', 'school', and 'park'. There are numerous word formation and lexical errors, such as 'develpoment' (development), 'cercular' (circular), and unnatural phrasing like 'the west side of shops in the inner side of south'. These errors occasionally impede communication and restrict the lexical score to Band 4.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
Grammatical control is weak throughout the text. The student struggles with sentence boundaries, producing long, run-on sentences joined by conjunctions like 'and'. There are frequent errors in verb tense, voice, and agreement, such as 'the direction of road is change' instead of 'is changed', and missing articles. Complex sentence structures are attempted but are generally faulty and lack control, placing this criterion at Band 4.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.