Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-28

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 4.5)

The plan shows the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.

Overall, there's some extra, empty space that is not in use. The facilities that it have is a check-in cabin, a cafe, walkaway and 8 gates that are not enough. Moreover, there is only one gate for bot departures and arrivals.

According to the current plan, the airport's extra space will be used for developing new facilities for passengers. New plan displays, two gates for departures and arrivals. It will include 18 gates, sky train and many shops for the passengers.

Moreover, there will be a car hire cabin in the enterance of arrival gate. an ATM machine; so that passengers would not face any financial difficulty. There will be a check-in counter on the opposite side of the bag drop cabin.

In addition, there will be two cafe at both sides( departure and arrivals side).

In conclusion, the extra, empty space of the aiport will be used for giving more facilities to the passengers like ATM machine and others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe the changes shown in the airport maps, but it struggles with accurate reporting and misinterprets key visual details. For instance, the student states that the current plan has 'only one gate for bot departures and arrivals' and that the new plan displays 'two gates for departures and arrivals', which misrepresents the layout of the 8 gates currently and 18 gates after development. While an overview is attempted, it is vague and refers to 'extra, empty space that is not in use'. The key features—such as the extension of the concourse into a Y-shape, the addition of a sky train, and the reorganisation of check-in and bag drop—are mentioned in a somewhat fragmented manner, limiting the overall development of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is structured into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. Transition words like 'Moreover' and 'In addition' are used, but they often link loosely associated details rather than building a coherent comparison between the 'now' and 'after' plans. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall arrangement lacks the smooth flow expected at higher bands. Paragraphing is attempted, but the divisions are brief and do not effectively group related thematic ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is quite basic and repetitive ('extra, empty space', 'facilities', 'cabin', 'gate'). There are noticeable word choice errors, such as using 'cabin' for a check-in desk or car hire area, and spelling mistakes like 'bot' instead of 'both' and 'enterance' instead of 'entrance'. The lexical range is limited to simple terms, and attempts at less common vocabulary are either inaccurate or inappropriate for an academic task report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The text displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple and slightly faulty complex sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The facilities that it have is...') and punctuation mistakes (e.g., 'An ATM machine; so that passengers would not face...'). These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate a lack of firm control over basic grammatical forms.

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.