Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-14

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 diagram illustrates the construction of airport now and how would it look like next year. Overall, Southwest airport now lacks basic facilities and after the redevelopment the management is planning to add more gates in case of rush hours,installing an ATM,skytrain for passengers and also giving a car hire for the convinience of the customers.

It is quite evident from the diagram that the airport now is lacking basic things like they only have 8 gates which are not enough and convinient in case of more passenger lacks a shop and has a long walkway it also dont have car hire service which is now an integral part of any airport service.

Meanwhile,After the renovation they are expanding 8 gates to 18 and adding one more gate to both arrivals and departures lane giving a bag drop section at east gate an ATM on west side with a car hire there as well and a sky train going through all 18 gates and constructing a new shop at the north side of airport

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change—the expansion from 8 to 18 gates—and mention several new facilities, including shops, an ATM, a sky train and car hire. This gives the response a relevant overview and addresses the comparison between the two plans. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the bag-drop area is on the west wall, not the east, and the sky train runs along the central stem rather than through all 18 gates. The claim that a gate is added to both the arrivals and departures lanes is not supported by the plan. Important changes to check-in and the cafés are also not clearly described. More precise location comparisons and a fuller account of the terminal changes would strengthen the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall progression from the present layout to the redevelopment, and the opening paragraph provides a general overview. The paragraph beginning “Meanwhile” also signals the move to the future plan. However, the body is difficult to follow because several changes are compressed into long, loosely connected sentences. For example, the final sentence moves from gate numbers to bag drop, ATM, car hire, the sky train and shops without clearly separating locations or grouping related features. The second paragraph also repeats the idea that the current airport lacks facilities. Use clearer paragraphing for the existing and proposed layouts, and organise each description by area of the terminal. More controlled linking would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing airport facilities, including “gates,” “bag drop,” “car hire,” “ATM” and “redevelopment,” so the reader can identify the main subject matter. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “expanding” and “constructing.” However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural word combinations reduce accuracy: “convinient,” “convinience,” and “rush hours” are problematic in this context, while “giving a car hire” does not express the intended change naturally. Repeated general phrases such as “basic things” and “more gates” also limit precision. Choose standard facility terms and use verbs such as “add,” “relocate” and “extend” accurately to describe the changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including an overview beginning “Overall” and a contrast introduced by “Meanwhile.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors make relationships between features unclear. For example, “how would it look like next year” has incorrect question-word order for an indirect clause, and “the airport now is lacking” is an awkward tense construction. In “they only have 8 gates which are not enough,” the reference and clause structure are not well controlled; later, “it also dont have” has an agreement error. Long sentences joined mainly by commas, especially the final one, also create punctuation and sentence-boundary problems. Practise accurate clause construction and divide lists of changes into shorter, complete sentences.

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