Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The give map depicts the various changes to be implemented to the Islip twon centre compared to its current state.It is evident that all the ammendments will be made to develop the town centre to be more habitable and developed.
To begin with, it is noticeable that the location of the shops located south to the main road, the school, and the housing present at the south of the map will remain unchanged.Also, the park present at the south eastern side would remain stagnant with a minimal amount of reduction in area. The shops present towards the north of the map will be transformed to a bus station, a shopping centre and a car park.The main road would be demolished and additional space would be created for a new housing block in the near future located north of the park.The establishment of a dual carriageway will be accomplished in the planned develpoment plan which would enclose all important buildings.The housing present at the west of the park would have an extra housing block in the future present east of it and a new shopping strip would be opened north of the new housing block.There would also be an establishment of a pedestrain only walkway just north of the newly establisshed shopping lane.The development would be extended into the country side to the north of the town centre providing with extra land for future development.Overall, it becomes apparent that all the future develpoments are to be made for the betterment of the town centre.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by comparing the current map of Islip with the proposed development plans. Key features are selected and reported, such as the transformation of northern shops into a bus station, shopping centre, and car park, the introduction of a dual carriageway loop, and the pedestrianisation of the central street. An overall trend or summary is provided at the beginning and end of the response. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in spatial description, such as claiming the main road is demolished when it is actually converted into a pedestrian zone and bus station area. Nevertheless, the main features are adequately covered, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into two paragraphs, with an introduction and a body paragraph. While the overall progression is generally clear, the second body paragraph is extremely dense and lists multiple changes consecutively without adequate grouping or paragraph breaks, making it difficult to follow. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or awkwardly (e.g., 'To begin with', 'Also'). Paragraphing should have been utilized more effectively to separate the demolition/traffic changes from the commercial and housing developments. Reference words are occasionally unclear. This performance aligns with Band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student attempts a range of vocabulary relevant to map interpretation, such as 'transformed', 'demolished', 'dual carriageway', and 'pedestrian only walkway'. However, there are several spelling errors and lexical inaccuracies, such as 'give' instead of 'given', 'twon' instead of 'town', 'ammendments' instead of 'amendments', 'stagnant' (misused to describe a park remaining the same size), and 'develpoment' or 'establisshed'. These errors slightly detract from the quality of the writing, though the vocabulary remains adequate to convey the intended meaning, placing it firmly at Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and passive constructions (e.g., 'will be transformed', 'The establishment of a dual carriageway will be accomplished'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'south to the main road' (instead of 'south of'), 'providing with extra land', and 'future present east of it'. Punctuation is also faulty in places, notably missing spaces after periods (e.g., 'state.It is evident'). While communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of errors prevents the grammar score from reaching a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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