Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-31

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 architecture of the centre of small town called islip as it is now and plans for its development, how it will look in the future.

Currently, there are only few facilities in the centre of town but it has been planned that in the future more facilities will be added in the town like bus station, shopping centre, car park, new housing, dual carriageway and padestrians road.

Presently , there are shops on both side of main road which run from east to west and two junction, one is connected to the school and other one is connected to the park. Between the park and school there is housing facility to the south of shops.

Regarding the proposed plan, there is dual carriageway run through-out of town. Furthermore, at the centre there is a road for pedestrians only. At the north of pedestrians road there are several facilities and shops to the south of road And palenty of new housing schemes have been proposed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two maps as a present layout and a proposed development, and you mention several major additions, including the bus station, shopping centre, car park and dual carriageway. However, the account only partially reports the main changes. The overview that “more facilities will be added” is broad, and the planned layout is not described precisely: the northern facilities are not located relative to one another, and the new housing and reduced park are not distinguished from existing housing. The statement that the carriageway runs “through-out” the town is also inaccurate; it forms a loop around the centre. To strengthen the response, summarise the key transformation and compare the northern and southern areas with accurate locations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, a general statement about future additions, and separate descriptions of the current and planned layouts. This gives the reader some sense of progression. However, the development is limited, particularly in the final paragraph, where “At the north of pedestrians road…” and “shops to the south” are not connected to specific locations or clearly compared with the present map. Linking phrases such as “Presently” and “Regarding the proposed plan” help, but the repeated use of “there” and broad references such as “several facilities” make relationships unclear. Organise the details by area—north of the central road, then south—and use precise references to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “junction,” “facilities,” “dual carriageway” and “proposed plan,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or awkward: “architecture” does not describe a map’s layout, “housing facility” is unnatural, and “padestrians road” is not the appropriate term for a street restricted to pedestrians. There are also spelling errors, including “islip,” “palenty” and “padestrians,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for precise terms such as “town centre,” “pedestrian-only street,” “shops” and “housing,” and check spelling carefully. This will make the description clearer without requiring unnecessarily complex vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, for example, “Currently, there are only few facilities…” and “Presently, there are shops on both side of main road which run from east to west.” However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships difficult to follow. Examples include missing articles (“only few,” “of main road”), subject–verb agreement (“road which run”), and faulty verb forms (“there is dual carriageway run”). The final sentence also joins ideas awkwardly, with “shops to the south of road And…” and no clear grammatical structure. Use a reliable pattern for map descriptions, such as “A dual carriageway will form a loop around the town centre,” and check articles, plurals and verb forms in each sentence. More accurate sentence construction is the main priority.

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