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 map illustrates the comparison between the present islip town center and planned development.
Overall, the infrastructure and appearence of islip town center will be change in future, there are alot of changes in planned development like dual carriageway,bus station,shopping center, car park, new housing and pedestrian walk way. School, park and housing will be same as it is now.
Currently, there is main road between shops which is linking to school and park and housing on the south of the shops.While in planned development there are numerous changes like dual carriage way surrounding the whole center.The one side of shops will be demolished and there will be addition of bus station,shopping center,car park and new housing with a linking road to dual carriage way in east of the center.There will be for walking in place
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response satisfies the task only partially because it falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 136 words. While you attempted to summarize the main features and make comparisons between the present and future maps of Islip, the information provided is somewhat basic and lacks full development. You successfully identified key elements such as the dual carriageway, the removal of shops on one side, and the additions of a bus station, shopping centre, and car park. However, the overview is brief and mechanical, and some details are generalized rather than thoroughly expanded. To achieve a higher band, you must write at least 150 words and extend your descriptions of the changes with clearer, more precise comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
Your response demonstrates some organization, dividing the text into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the changes. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow between sentences is occasionally hindered by abrupt transitions and repetitive sentence starters. Cohesive devices are used rather mechanically, such as 'While in planned development' and 'Currently, there is', rather than forming a smooth, natural narrative. Paragraphing is attempted, but the paragraphs are very short and underdeveloped. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, you need to use a wider and more accurate range of cohesive links to connect your ideas smoothly and ensure your overview integrates naturally into the structure of your response.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You demonstrate a limited but minimally adequate range of vocabulary for this task, successfully utilizing words such as 'infrastructure', 'demolished', and 'dual carriageway'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, such as spelling mistakes ('appearence', 'alot'), missing spaces ('bus station,shopping center'), and awkward phrasing like 'there will be for walking in place'. These errors reflect an inadequate control of word formation and collocation, which sometimes causes difficulty for the reader. To lift your lexical score to the next band, you should expand your range of vocabulary to include more sophisticated synonyms and ensure accurate spelling and word spacing throughout your writing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
Your grammatical range is quite limited, relying heavily on simple sentence structures and repetitive patterns such as 'there is' and 'there will be'. When you attempt more complex structures, they are frequently faulty, seen in clauses like 'the infrastructure and appearence of islip town center will be change in future'. Furthermore, there are frequent errors in articles ('the present islip town center'), capitalization proper nouns ('islip'), punctuation, and prepositions ('in future' instead of 'in the future'). These frequent grammatical errors cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve, you need to demonstrate a greater variety of complex sentence forms and exercise tighter control over basic grammatical rules, tense formations, and punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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