Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-13

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

SOUTHWEST AIRPORT

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The two plans illustrate the site of an airport where the redevelopment should be occur in nextyear and how it will look in now and after refurbishment.

Overall, there will be big change an airport after the development. The walkaway area will change into the sky train and looks like "Y" shaped. The more gate open for entries and open a ship in next year between skytrain and security passport control. In the next year, there will be bag drop section, atm machine and also car hiring section.

In the south of airport, there are eight gates and it will open 18 in the next year. In the departures area, now there are check-in and cafe section but it will added a bag drop section in it after one year.There will be no change in security passport control and passport control customs. In the next year shops will be open for passengers convenience.

Now, in the arrival area of airport, there are sections and cafes. However, after the development, there will be cafe placed on the north east corner and car hiring for the people build in south east corner. the atm machine placed in the arrival area between cafe and car hirimg section. It will be quite convenient for all passengers after refurbisment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main transformation clearly: the concourse becomes Y-shaped, the number of gates rises from eight to eighteen, and new facilities such as shops, a sky train, bag drop, an ATM and car hire are introduced. You also compare the departures and arrivals areas and note that passport and security facilities remain. These points address the task, but some details are unclear or inaccurate: the shops are not described as being between the sky train and security, and the departures changes are not fully located. The overview also says the walkway changes into the sky train, whereas the plan shows an extended concourse with a sky train running along its stem. A more precise overview and clearer reporting of the main spatial changes would make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the departures and arrivals areas. This gives the reader a general route through the comparison, and linking words such as “Overall,” “However,” and “after the development” help signal relationships. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes loose: the overview moves quickly between the walkway, gates, shops and new facilities without clearly grouping the changes. Some references are also vague, as in “there are sections and cafes,” and the final paragraph repeats information about the café and car hire. Organise the details by area and use clearer references to the plan so that each paragraph develops one set of changes in a more controlled way.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “departures area,” “arrival area,” “gates,” “check-in,” “bag drop” and “ATM,” which helps communicate the main features. There are also attempts to describe change with phrases such as “will be added” and “will be open.” However, word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the description less clear: “walkaway” is used for “walkway,” “ship” appears to mean “shops,” and “car hirimg” is misspelled. Some phrases are unnatural, including “more gate open for entries” and “car hiring section.” Choose precise map terms and check spelling; for example, describe the gate capacity as increasing and refer to a “car-hire facility.” This would make the vocabulary more accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “However” and a relative clause in “where the redevelopment should be occur.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but some errors in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence construction reduce accuracy. For example, “should be occur” should be “is due to take place,” while “it will added a bag drop section” needs “a bag-drop section will be added.” The opening sentence also has an unclear tense and word order, and “there will be cafe placed” needs an article and a passive form. Use consistent future forms for planned changes, and check each sentence for a complete, correctly formed verb phrase. More accurate complex sentences would improve control.

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