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 the centre of a small town known as islip today, and after its planned development in future. The main features of the plans are to make it convenient and accessible.

Overall, the idea of this structure is to provide ease environment to the locals, such as new dual carriageway will be added in circular way and mainroad will be replace with pedestrians way.

The town now has school, park, housing and shops but not in proper order. Shops are on the north side of map, park is on east , housing and school on south spot respectively.

The planned development will build an outer carriageway and inside, complete infrastructure. The will be Bus station set-up on north west and besides shopiing centre and car park. The main road will e replaced by pedestrians walf and there will be new housing for peoples, other things will remain same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the broad purpose of the plan and report several relevant changes, including the new outer carriageway, pedestrian-only central route, bus station, shopping centre and car park. You also mention that housing and the park are affected. However, some important details are inaccurate or too general: the northern shops are replaced by three facilities, while the southern shops remain; the park is reduced rather than simply unchanged; and the school and some housing stay outside the loop. The statement that “other things will remain same” obscures these distinctions. Your overview gives a general aim, but “provide ease environment” is unclear and does not clearly summarise the main spatial transformation. More precise comparisons and a fuller account of what is retained, replaced or added would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable four-paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview, a description of the current town and a description of the plan. This gives the reader a basic progression from present to future, and phrases such as “Overall” and “The planned development” help signal the stages. However, the organisation within paragraphs is sometimes unclear. For example, “housing and school on south spot respectively” does not make the locations easy to follow, and the final paragraph moves quickly from the northern facilities to the pedestrian route and new housing without explaining the southern changes. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly “and inside” and “other things will remain same.” Grouping details by north and south, and explicitly contrasting what changes with what remains, would make the progression clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “dual carriageway,” “pedestrians,” “bus station,” “shopping centre” and “car park,” so the reader can identify several planned features. There is also an attempt to describe spatial relationships with “north west,” “east” and “inside.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “ease environment,” “in circular way,” “complete infrastructure” and “pedestrians walf.” “Other things” is too vague for describing map features, and “proper order” does not convey a meaningful comparison. Spelling errors such as “islip” and “shopiing” also reduce control. Aim for precise map language, for example “a loop around the centre,” “pedestrianised street” and “facilities,” while checking spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentences, including “The maps illustrate…” and “Overall, the idea… is to provide…,” and the main message is generally understandable. However, some grammatical errors affect clarity. Examples include missing articles in “has school, park, housing and shops,” the faulty construction “The will be Bus station set-up,” and the incorrect verb form in “mainroad will be replace.” There are also problems with agreement and sentence construction in “other things will remain same” and “housing and school on south spot respectively.” Most sentences rely on basic patterns, and the attempted longer structures are not consistently controlled. Practise accurate passive forms (“will be replaced”), articles, and complete sentences with clear subject–verb structure; these will help you express the map changes more reliably.

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