Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-20

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 provided image illustrates the next year plan for the redesign of an airport verses how it is currently designed.

Overall, the next year's new developement plan incorporates extension to the currect design with additions of many features such as shops, sky train, ATM, etc. There will be some alterations to the location of few existing parts of the airport as well.

The most significant introduction is of the sky train alongside the addition of more gates that where previously ranging from 1 to 8 but the new plan has 1 to 18 gates. The currently empty triangular region that is located at the North of security passport control and customs will be accommodating shops in the upcoming year.

There will be some changes and additions in security passport control and customs areas as well. The current cafe will be relocated to the West of the departures enterence and the Check-in station will be replaced by bag drop station and will be relocated opposite to the new bag drop station. From the arrivals enterence, the currently empty space will be filled by another cafe, an ATM and car hire in the next year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses the prompt by summarising the main features and comparing the current and future layouts of Southwest Airport. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the major expansions and structural alterations. Key spatial changes are reported, such as the extension of the gates from 1 to 18, the introduction of the sky train, and modifications to check-in, bag drop, and arrival facilities. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting the precise locations of certain features, such as misinterpreting the placement of the check-in and bag drop stations in the new plan. Despite these minor geographical confusions, the response covers all essential parts of the visual data adequately and demonstrates a clear understanding of the transformation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organised into four paragraphs, starting with an introductory statement, followed by an overview, and then two body paragraphs detailing specific changes. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader through the map comparison, such as phrases like 'Overall', 'The most significant introduction', and 'There will be some changes'. However, referencing and progression occasionally feel a bit mechanical, and some sentences lack seamless transitions. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate general trends from specific spatial details, ensuring a coherent overall arrangement throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, successfully employing words and phrases such as 'redesign', 'developement', 'alterations', 'relocated', and 'accommodating'. There are, however, a few spelling errors (e.g., 'developement', 'currect', 'enterence') and occasional awkward word choices (e.g., 'verses how it is currently designed'). Less common lexical items are attempted with mixed success, but the vocabulary used is sufficient to communicate the core information without major impediment to the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative constructions, such as 'The currently empty triangular region that is located at the North... will be accommodating shops'. Grammatical control is generally fair, though several errors persist, including subject-verb agreement issues ('where previously ranging' instead of 'were previously ranging') and prepositional inaccuracies. Punctuation is mostly standard, and while errors occur, they rarely impede overall communication or obscure the intended meaning of the report.

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