Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-03
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 illustration gives information about Islip town centre now and also planned development look. Overall, planned development had several advancement with adition of dual carriageway and also bus station, car park and shopping centre.
It is quite evident from the maps today look of Islip town is simple and only have somethings like that countryside on the top side and housing on the lower side also hava school on west of housing and park on its north side. It also have a main road and there are shops on the north and west side of main road with the adition of some house in the central area.
Meanwhile, the development planned showed several changes recording its structure it had circuler shape in the circle it had bus station, shopping centre and car park over the pedestrians only and also the the new housing facility on the north east and south east side and also park on the south east corner. there had several shops south side of pedisterians. Thus there is advancement of changing its whole structure into dual carriageway, scool and housing were also present in lower south side.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task by outlining both the current layout of Islip and the proposed development plans, fulfilling the core requirements of an academic overview. An attempt at an overall trend is made at the beginning, noting the shift in infrastructure. However, some aspects of the response are under-developed or vague. For instance, the description of the current town mentions 'somethings like that countryside on the top side', and the planned changes lack precision when describing specific locations, such as general references to the 'north east and south east side'. While the main features like the dual carriageway, pedestrianised street, and new facilities are identified, the comparisons between the current state and the future plan remain somewhat limited and require more extension and clarity to reach a higher level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text displays a coherent overall arrangement, successfully separating the introduction, the current layout, and the future developments into distinct paragraphs. Progression is visible as the reader moves chronologically from the present map to the planned changes. However, cohesion is at times mechanical and faulty. Linking phrases and cohesive devices are basic, with repetitive use of connectors like 'and also'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as ambiguous pronouns like 'its' and 'there' making it difficult to track specific spatial relationships between buildings and roads. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within sentences could be significantly improved for a smoother flow of information.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited and just adequate for the task, containing noticeable lexical errors that restrict precision. The student attempts less common vocabulary such as 'advancement' and 'circuler shape', but these are marred by word-choice and spelling errors (e.g., 'adition', 'scool', 'pedisterians'). Expressions such as 'today look' and 'planned development look' are unnatural and lack formal academic style. While the student manages to name key map features like 'dual carriageway', 'bus station', and 'shopping centre', the lack of varied and precise collocation prevents the response from demonstrating a broader lexical range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complexity frequently result in structural errors. There are frequent mistakes in basic grammatical patterns, such as missing articles ('have school on west of housing'), incorrect verb forms ('planned development had several advancement'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('there had several shops'). Punctuation is also weak, particularly with run-on sentences that lack proper commas or full stops. Despite these errors, meaning is generally conveyed without complete distortion, placing the writing squarely at this level where grammatical control needs strengthening across a wider range of structures.
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