Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-02
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 Map below shows the centre of a small town called Islip and the plans for its development.
Overall, the town centre currently has a main road with shops on either side.The shops on the North of the main road open to the countryside. While, on the other hand the shops to the South of the main road open to large plots of housing areas.To the right, we have the parking area which opens to the main road.The Left end of the Main road has a separate path for the school which is towars the South West.
The new plan developed for the Islip town centre has multiple additions while the location for the school and the housing area to its left still exist.
A dual carriageway is predicted to the north of the school which opens to a new housing area behind which is a car parking, shopping centre and a bus station.This location has a pedestrians only street to the south of which are shops in a row and a new park.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the task by covering both the current map and the planned developments for Islip town centre, earning a solid mid-level score. However, some aspects are under-developed or inaccurately described. For instance, the overview lacks a clear synthesis of the most striking changes, such as the complete restructuring of the northern shops into a bus station, shopping centre, and car park, and the addition of the dual carriageway loop. Furthermore, spatial relationships are sometimes misreported or vague, as seen when describing the location of the parking area and the school's position relative to the main road. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to provide a clearer overview of the main trends and ensure that every key geographical feature is reported with greater precision and full development.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response demonstrates an overall coherent arrangement, dividing the description logically between the current map and the proposed future layout in separate paragraphs. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transition phrases used, such as 'While, on the other hand' and 'To the right', feel slightly disjointed and do not always establish smooth logical progression. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, leaving the reader to puzzle out exact spatial alignments. Paragraphing is present and separates the two timeframes appropriately, but the internal flow within paragraphs needs more sophisticated cohesive devices to guide the reader effortlessly through the comparative spatial changes.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully employing functional town-planning terms such as 'dual carriageway', 'shopping centre', and 'housing area'. The writer attempts less common vocabulary, but this is accompanied by some word choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as 'towars' instead of 'towards', and awkward phrasing like 'large plots of housing areas'. While communication is not severely impeded, these lexical slips and occasional inappropriate collocations limit the precision and range of the writing. To achieve a higher score, the vocabulary must be deployed with fewer errors and a greater degree of natural collocation and stylistic appropriateness.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response shows a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'The new plan developed for the Islip town centre has multiple additions while the location for the school... still exist.' However, subject-verb agreement issues are evident here, with 'exist' incorrectly matching the plural or singular mismatch in the clause. There are also occasional punctuation and preposition errors, such as missing commas after introductory phrases and awkward prepositions like 'to the north of the school which opens to a new housing area behind which is a car parking'. Errors occur regularly, though they rarely impede overall communication. A wider variety of error-free complex structures and tighter grammatical control are needed to progress further.
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