Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-11-02

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 5.0)

The map illustrates the centre of small town called islip as it present and some development after planning.

overview, It is evident that recently islip town was construcked land for shops, main roard, scool,housing. however, the town will developed several bussiness purpose shops and housing make new buildings.

In recent, the small town had made n the centre of town the main roard made and several shops made in front of roard. The north of the side made countryside area. in addiotion, the east-south of made park. the south side of several houses. finally, the south-west made school and attached with main roard.

after development, in the centre of town the shops will same place. in the front of shops will construct north-west of the corner bus station and next to the shopping centre and then car parking. additionally, the north-east corner willmake new housing. the south-east corner will make park and will use land of south-west till for new housing. the main roadrd of the south will construct for new housing and the corner of south-west make school. and next to the dual carriageway.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two maps as showing the town before and after development, and you report several relevant changes, including the bus station, shopping centre, car park, new housing and a smaller park. However, the overview is unclear and does not summarise the main transformation: the new dual-carriageway loop and the pedestrian-only central street. Some details are also inaccurate or confusing. For example, the southern shops remain in place, rather than being described as newly constructed, and the school remains south of the loop rather than being newly made at the southwest corner. The description of the existing roads and housing is incomplete. To strengthen the response, give a clear overview of the major changes, then compare the locations and what is retained or replaced more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an attempted overview, and separate descriptions of the present and planned layouts. This helps the reader recognise the two time periods. However, progression within paragraphs is often difficult to follow, and the overview does not clearly guide the details that follow. Linking expressions such as “in addition,” “finally,” and “after development” are used, but some connections are unclear or mechanical; for instance, “the south-east corner will make park” does not clearly relate the park to the other planned features. Several ideas are crowded into long strings joined by “and.” Organise each map description from north to south or west to east, and use clear location references and sentence boundaries to make comparisons easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “main road,” “countryside,” “housing,” “bus station,” “shopping centre,” and “dual carriageway.” These terms show awareness of the topic, but the range is limited and several word choices or forms make the description hard to interpret. Phrases such as “shops made in front of roard,” “the east-south of made park,” and “will use land” are not natural ways to describe locations or changes. Spelling errors, including “construcked,” “scool,” and “roard,” are also noticeable. Build a bank of accurate map verbs and location phrases, such as “is located,” “will be replaced by,” “to the northeast of,” and “will remain,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

There are attempts to describe both the present and future layouts, but sentence structures are mostly simple or joined with “and,” and errors frequently obscure relationships between features. Examples include “the centre of small town called islip as it present,” “the town will developed,” and “the shops will same place,” where articles, verb forms, and sentence construction are not controlled. Capitalisation and punctuation are also inconsistent, as in the lowercase “overview” and the run-on sequence beginning “after development.” Practise reliable patterns such as “The town centre currently has…” and “The shops will remain, while…”. Use a clear subject and correctly formed verb in each sentence, and separate distinct map changes with full stops.

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