Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-21

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 5.0)

These two maps illustrate between how town centre is constructed now and how it will going to be after development as planed.

Overall, Current map is simply stuctured and it's easy to understand, The shops are side-by-side on the main road and park, countryside, Housing, and School are completely seperate from the main road.Although new development planned map shows modern and elegent structure, In which we get a dual carriageway and a complete systemetical pedestrians walk-way, bus station, shopping centre, car parking, housing, two new housings, and a park.

As comparing old town centre we have only one main road which one-way which can held a massive traffic jam at peak hours, as school and park. People have to stop on the main road for purchasing

items from the shops which can block the traffic. Simillarly, In the new design we got a dual-way road which helps to prevent traffic jams and have a seperate car parking area and bus station. We got pedestrians only space which helps for purchasing items from the shops.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the task by describing both maps of Islip town centre, providing a basic overview of the changes. However, the response falls short in several areas. The description contains grammatical and lexical interference that obscures certain details, and the overview lacks precision regarding the layout changes, such as the introduction of the dual carriageway loop and the reconfiguration of shops into a shopping centre and bus station. Furthermore, the discussion slips into speculative reasoning about traffic jams and shopping habits rather than strictly summarising the visual data. Overall, the task is addressed only partially, warranting a band score of 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is divided into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and a concluding body paragraph. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by poor sentence boundary punctuation and run-on sentences, such as in the second paragraph where multiple clauses are strung together with commas. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks clear thematic unity, resulting in a score of 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a limited range of vocabulary with frequent errors in word formation and choice, such as 'planed' instead of planned, 'elegent' instead of elegant, 'systemetical' instead of systematic, and 'housings' as a plural noun. There is an over-reliance on simple vocabulary combined with awkward phrasing like 'complete systemetical pedestrians walk-way'. These noticeable errors and lack of precision in describing geographical features restrict the lexical score to 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. There are frequent errors in verb tense and structure, such as 'illustrate between how town centre is constructed' and 'how it will going to be'. Punctuation is faulty, characterized by run-on sentences, comma splices, and missing capital letters after periods. Simple sentence structures are generally controlled, but attempts at more complex structures frequently result in severe errors that cause difficulty for the reader, matching the descriptor for band 5.0.

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

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