Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-27

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 diagrams illustrate the structure of an airport in the present and how it will be restructured after the redevelopments taking place next year.

The plan demonstrates the expansion of the airport with certain new services to be introduced after refurbishment. Meanwhile, the arrival and departure setting remains the same.

In the present day, the airport has passport control customs on the arrivals side, 8 onboarding gates with access through walkway. On the departure side is the security passport control with check-in and cafe services nearby.

After redevelopments, passport control customs are still in the arrivals section but new services are planned to be introduced like cafe, ATM and car hire. Increased onboarding gates i.e., 18 are to be accessed through sky train. In the departure section, Security passport control has shops before onboarding. Cafe, bag drop and check in before the security passport control area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses the main parts of the task by comparing the current layout of Southwest Airport with the proposed changes for next year. Key features such as the expansion of the gates from 1 to 18, the addition of a sky train, new retail shops, and extra passenger facilities (ATM, car hire, bag drop) are mentioned. However, the response falls slightly short of the 150-word minimum (containing 146 words), which impacts the completeness of the overview and detail selection. Furthermore, some descriptions are vague or lack precise spatial relations, such as the exact positioning of the new Y-shaped concourse and the rearranged check-in counters.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text is generally coherent and follows a logical progression, starting with an introductory overview, moving to the present layout, and concluding with the future developments. Paragraphing is used to separate different sections of the response appropriately. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat basic and mechanical, relying on transitional phrases like 'Meanwhile' and 'In the present day'. Referencing between sentences could be smoother to enhance the overall flow and readability of the comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range suitable for describing architectural and layout changes, utilizing terms such as 'expansion', 'refurbishment', 'redevelopments', and 'services'. However, word choices and collocations are at times imprecise or unnatural, such as 'arrival and departure setting' instead of 'layout', and 'onboarding gates' instead of 'boarding gates'. There are also minor stylistic issues and repetitive use of basic vocabulary ('new services are planned to be introduced'). Spelling is generally accurate throughout.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating introductory dependent clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'with certain new services to be introduced after refurbishment'). However, there are noticeable grammatical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as missing articles ('has passport control customs' instead of 'has passport control and customs') and incomplete syntactic structures ('Increased onboarding gates i.e., 18 are to be accessed through sky train'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical errors occasionally cause minor strain for the reader.

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