Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-08

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 two maps shows before and after deveoplement of the centre of a small town called islip

Overall, major change was contructed dual carriageway around the center, Developed station for Bus, a shopping center and car park area. Just adjusted to it, added a new housing area, while housing, bottom shops and park remain in the same area.

Biggest change is covering the centrer with dual carriageway, Main road is converted to now pedestrians only. Before park was used have larger in size but in new plan it's size reduced and new housing were added along with it.

North side of shops are now replaced with bus station on left, in middle shopping center and car park on right side, Along with this on east a new housing area is developed. At Center part, which was used to have main road , now it is converted to pedestrians only. The south side of shop remained unchanged

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main planned changes: the dual carriageway, the pedestrian-only central street, the new bus station, shopping centre and car park, and the reduced park. You also note that the southern shops remain. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the park is not simply in the same area, as it becomes smaller, and the school and southern housing—which remain outside the new road loop—are omitted. The overview is relevant but its wording makes the changes difficult to follow. The response is 148 words, below the required 150, so it does not meet the minimum. To strengthen the report, describe the southern layout and the school’s position, and state the overall transformation more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about the central road and northern shops. This gives the reader some sense of organisation. However, progression is weakened by repetition: the pedestrian-only street is mentioned in both the overview and the final paragraph, and the southern shops are also repeated. Some links are awkward or unclear, particularly “Just adjusted to it” and “Along with this on east,” while the final paragraph ends without covering the remaining southern features. Use each paragraph for a distinct purpose—overview, northern changes, then southern changes—and connect details with clear, accurate transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “dual carriageway,” “pedestrians only,” “replaced,” “reduced in size” and “remained unchanged,” which helps convey the development. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “deveoplement,” “contructed,” “centerrer” and “center” alongside “centre.” Some phrases are imprecise or unnatural, such as “Developed station for Bus” and “park was used have larger in size,” and “new housing area is developed” is less suitable for describing a plan. Aim for accurate, consistent spelling and standard map-report collocations, such as “a bus station is planned” and “the park is reduced in size.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts at both simple and more complex sentences, and the reader can generally identify the intended comparisons. However, some grammatical errors make several sentences difficult to follow. For example, “The two maps shows” has subject–verb disagreement, while “Before park was used have larger in size” lacks a clear grammatical structure. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention: “At Center part” and the comma splice in “...on right side, Along with this...” are problematic. The sentence “Main road is converted to now pedestrians only” has an awkward verb construction. Practise forming complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and check agreement, articles, tense and punctuation.

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