Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-18
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 plans illustrate the current site of an airport and how it will look after redevelopment next year.
Overall, according the recent diagram shows there are only 8 gates and little things. Moeover, after development gates will be increase up to 18. After devlopment, airpot will contains several neccesary option.
The current Southwest Airport contains 8 gates and after reconstruct, it will be increase. The major differnce is that before renew the airpot have only cafe and check-in. After redesign, it will have many numbers of Atm machines. The important role is sky train in future SouthWest Airport which facilitate travellers from 1 gate to another gate. On the another hand, current airport plans shows travellers travels by foot to reach another gate. This is the huge and benefical services for the old people.
The bag drop places will available in future. There is no extra space in current airport site. In addition, the car hire system be available soon in future.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the airport plans, such as the increase in gates and the addition of new facilities like the sky train and car hire. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial and lacks a clear, professional overview. The description of the changes is occasionally repetitive, and some details are presented in a fragmented manner rather than as a cohesive comparison. While the main points are identified, the response would benefit from a more structured approach to grouping the information (e.g., separating infrastructure changes from passenger amenities) to better highlight the transformation of the airport site.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical flow between sentences is often disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes mechanical, such as the repetitive use of 'After development' and 'In addition'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly in the second paragraph where the transition between the current and future states feels abrupt. While there is an overall progression, the lack of sophisticated linking words makes the text feel somewhat stilted. Improving the variety of transition signals would significantly enhance the readability and logical flow of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks the precision required for a higher band. There are several spelling errors, such as 'Moeover', 'devlopment', 'airpot', 'neccesary', and 'differnce'. Additionally, word choice is often simplistic or inaccurate, such as 'little things' to describe airport facilities and 'many numbers of' which is non-standard. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary like 'redevelopment' and 'facilitate', the frequent errors in spelling and collocation hinder the overall quality of the writing. A more careful review of basic spelling and collocations is necessary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('gates will be increase', 'airport will contains'), missing articles, and awkward phrasing ('current airport plans shows travellers travels'). Complex sentence structures are attempted but are often faulty, leading to a lack of clarity. Punctuation is generally functional, but the high frequency of grammatical slips throughout the text impacts the reader's ability to follow the information smoothly. To improve, the student should focus on mastering basic sentence construction and verb tense consistency.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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