Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-14

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 6.0)

The following plan illustrates the current and the future development of an Airport site which is planned to be expanded and introduce new counters for ease of people. If we talk about the current infrasturcture of the Airport, There are single entrances for both departure and arrival leading to security passport control and Passport control customs counters respectively. Cafe is situated only at the departures section while passenger arriving airport have to walk to the departures lane to grad a coffee. Gate 1 to 3 contains walkway while gates 5 to 8 have none. The futre developement plans to increase the number ofentrances for both arrivals and departures and plans to develop an ATM. Also multiple facilites such as Car Hire and Bag Drop are planned for ease of passengers. Cafe is expected to have one more counter at Passport control customs as welll for catering people at arrivals section. Sky Train is expected to operate through gates 1 to 18 reducing fatigue that is caused by walkway only throguh limited gates currently. Shops are planned to be built for making the long hours of waiting times for passengers bearable and passengers can fulfill their needs if desired before boarding on to the flight. Overall the future development plans to increase the scale of Airport to include multiple facilites and routes for passengers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses the task by summarising the main features of Southwest Airport in both the current and future plans. Key transformations, such as the increase in entrances, the addition of the Sky Train, and new facilities like Car Hire and Bag Drop, are clearly identified and contrasted. The overview at the end effectively captures the general trend of the expansion. While some minor details could be further elaborated, the core requirements of Task 1 are well covered, demonstrating a clear understanding of the visual data provided. The response merits a Band 6.5 for Task Achievement as it presents a clear overview and highlights key changes, though it occasionally lacks full depth in comparing all specific structural shifts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into a single block of text rather than distinct paragraphs, which detracts from the overall structural clarity required for a high band score. Cohesive devices are used, but they tend to be basic or slightly mechanical, such as 'If we talk about', 'Also', and 'Overall'. Although there is a logical progression moving from the current state to the future developments, the lack of paragraphing means that information flows less smoothly than expected for Band 7. The relationship between ideas is generally clear, but referencing and paragraph structuring need considerable improvement to achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map transformation, using terms like 'infrastructure', 'redevelopment', and 'facilities'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'infrasturcture', 'ofentrances', 'facilites', and 'grad a coffee' instead of 'grab a coffee'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but inaccuracies in collocation and spelling prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points, but control over spelling and word formation needs tightening.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses like 'If we talk about the current infrastructure...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation lapses, such as missing articles ('at departures section', 'arriving airport'), incorrect prepositions ('boarding on to'), and run-on sentences lacking proper punctuation. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur with enough frequency to restrict the score to Band 5.5. Greater control over sentence boundaries and complex structures is needed.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.