Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-09-27
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 presented maps represent the structular outlay of Islip town toda, and outlay of planned redevelopment of the town.
The first map shows a simple design of the area with a main road, containing two rows of shops around the main road. If enter from the west side of the town the side road leads towars school and crossing the housing next to the school, there lies a park, which joins the road starting from the east side of the locality.
In the planned outlay, the main road is transformed into a dual carriage enclosing whole city conbus station in the extreme northwest direction of town. While, a shopping center is next to it . Moreover the car park and the new housing are next to shopping center. the old main road is now just for use by pedestrians. Across that the shops are as these used to be before and housing, new housing and park are in the south of the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, the School is located outside the roads
Overall, the plannned map is much more improved that the basic design of today's town.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The candidate successfully addresses the prompt by describing the main features of Islip town centre now and its planned development, including relevant comparisons such as the pedestrianisation of the main road and the addition of the dual carriageway. An overview is attempted at the end, although it is rather brief. While most spatial relationships and changes are reported accurately, there are some minor inaccuracies and omissions in local detail, such as the exact positioning of the new bus station and housing. The overall progression of information is adequate to meet the basic requirements of Task 1, but further development and precision would be needed for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged into a logical overall structure, moving from an introductory sentence to the current layout, the future layout, and finally a concluding remark. Paragraphing is attempted, though the body paragraphs are somewhat dense and could be broken down more effectively. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, but referencing is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in expressions like 'Across that' or 'While, a shopping center is next to it'. Progression is visible, but the flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward transitions and punctuation errors.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to town planning and spatial orientation such as 'redevelopment', 'pedestrians only', and 'dual carriage'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'structular' instead of structural, 'outlay' instead of layout, 'toda' instead of today, and 'conbus' instead of combined or a bus station. These lexical errors and awkward collocations indicate a restricted control of word formation and spelling, capping the score at this level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as conditional or prepositional clauses like 'If enter from the west side of the town...' and 'In the planned outlay, the main road is transformed into a dual carriage enclosing whole city...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including missing prepositions, incorrect verb forms ('If enter', 'plannned map is much more improved that'), and punctuation issues. These errors occasionally cause strain for the reader, although communication of the main ideas is generally maintained.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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