Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-18

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 illustrate developmemt plans for center of a small town called islip.

Overall, it is clear that there will be some significant changes some new facilities add or converted. Main road in the center of the town is converted into Pedestrians only.Dual carriageway introduced which will covered around the town.

On the west side of map, one main road from west to east passes through two shops .The will converted into dual carriagrway around the city.Country side will be removed and area will used to provide basic facilities.School will be remianed there where it was.One side of shops will be converted into bus station and shopping center.

On east side of map, park size will reduced due to road.New housing will introduced above shops with seperate road and near park.The center shops above housing will reamined same. Two housing in the senter of the twon will changed its location one near shops will be shift to west side whereas the pther will moved below new housing.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main direction of change: the central road becomes pedestrian-only, a dual carriageway is added, and new facilities and housing are introduced. You also include relevant details about the school, shops and park, so the response addresses the map comparison. However, several descriptions are unclear or inaccurate. The countryside is not stated to be removed; the northern shops are replaced by a bus station, shopping centre and car park, rather than just a bus station and shopping centre. The southern shops remain, but this is not clearly distinguished from the northern row. The overview would be stronger if it summarised the main transformation and the retention of the school and some existing shops, while specific locations and changes were reported more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate descriptions of the western and eastern areas. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the body paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow: for example, the west-side paragraph moves from the road to the countryside, school and shops without clearly locating each feature in relation to the others. Phrases such as “one main road” and “The center shops above housing” also make the references hard to interpret. Use clearer spatial links such as “north of,” “to the south,” and “while,” and group features by their position or by whether they remain, are replaced or are added. This would make the organisation more coherent and less abrupt.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “dual carriageway,” “facilities,” “converted,” “reduced” and “location,” and the reader can generally identify the changes you intend to describe. However, the range and control are limited, with repeated or imprecise wording such as “changed,” “converted” and “introduced.” Several spelling errors—“developmemt,” “carriagrway,” “remianed” and “seperate”—also make the writing less fluent to read. Some phrases are not natural for describing plans, such as “one main road from west to east passes through two shops.” Aim for precise map language and accurate collocations: for example, say that a road “runs east–west,” that facilities “will be added,” and that the park “will be reduced in size.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

There are attempts at both simple and more complex sentences, including “Overall, it is clear that…” and “New housing will introduced above shops with seperate road.” However, errors in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence boundaries are frequent enough to make some relationships unclear. Examples include “some new facilities add,” “which will covered,” “School will be remianed there where it was,” and “Two housing … will changed its location.” These need forms such as “some new facilities will be added,” “which will cover,” “the school will remain where it is,” and “two housing areas will change location.” There are also punctuation problems, notably the missing space after “only.” Practise consistent future forms for planned changes and use complete, clearly punctuated sentences.

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