Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-06

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 maps illustrates the Islip (the center of a town) in current situation, and future plans for its construction.

The two maps gives the information about the recent conditions and the future development for the Islip town center, in the first map on the north side we saw countryside but the later map did not show such place. The common things are shops, housing, park, and school.

The main difference of the maps is the main road that starts from the east in first map and end on the west without any round but in the second map main road joins the other end by two sides did not enter in the city and called Duel carriageway. The other difference is that the later map gives the idea of new housing.

Planned development also shows that there are bus station on the west side of shopping centre and car park on the east side that whows the importance of shopping center near the new hosing.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two maps as showing Islip now and after development, and you note several relevant features, including the disappearance of the countryside label, the new housing, and the bus station, shopping centre and car park. However, the response only partially summarises the main changes. It does not give a clear overall picture of how the town centre is reorganised, such as the pedestrian-only central street and the dual-carriageway loop, and the comparison of the roads is unclear: the existing main road runs east–west, while the planned loop surrounds the centre. The statement that the new housing shows the shopping centre’s importance is an unsupported interpretation. Select the major changes accurately and explain their locations to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has some organisation: it introduces the maps, then mentions shared features and differences, before adding details about the planned development. This gives the reader a basic sense of the topic. However, the progression is not consistently clear, and several ideas are crowded into long sentences. For example, the sentence beginning “The main difference of the maps” combines the existing road’s direction, the planned carriageway and its relationship to the town without clearly separating them. Linking phrases such as “The other difference” and “Planned development also shows” are repetitive and do not establish precise relationships. Use a clear overview paragraph followed by separate descriptions of the northern and southern changes, with accurate references such as “whereas” and “to the east of”.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “countryside”, “housing”, “car park” and “dual carriageway”, so the reader can identify several features. However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which occasionally makes the description difficult to follow. “Construction” is not the most suitable term for the town’s planned redevelopment, and “without any round” does not clearly describe the existing straight road. There are also spelling errors in “Duel”, “whows” and “hosing”, alongside inconsistent forms such as “center” and “centre”. Aim for precise location and change vocabulary, and check spelling carefully. More accurate phrases such as “the road runs east–west” and “the countryside is replaced by…” would make the comparisons clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine ideas using clauses, for example in “The main difference of the maps is the main road that starts…”, but complex sentences are often not controlled successfully. Subject–verb agreement errors occur in “The maps illustrates” and “The two maps gives”; the correct forms are “illustrate” and “give”. Articles and sentence construction are also problematic in “in current situation” and “in the first map on the north side we saw countryside”. The long road-comparison sentence lacks clear grammatical structure, and punctuation does not consistently separate ideas. These errors sometimes make the intended relationships hard to understand. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then add subordinate clauses while checking agreement, articles and punctuation.

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