Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
The given plan shows the current site of the Southwest airport and how it will look after significant changes are made to it by the next year.
Overall, it can be seen that there is an increase in the number of gates as well as several additions are made to the airport.
Currently, the Southwest airport has an entrance for departures on the left side and arrivals on the right side. The departure area contains check-in aisle at left corner and cafe at the right corner. Moving further from there, their is a Security Passport Control. After which their are 8 gates situated at the end of the airport. A walkway connects the gate 1 and 4. While, the arrivals area contains Passport Control Customs.
After the development is done the departures and arrivals entrance has two gates. The location of check-in counter and cafe has been changed. Cafe is now located at left side of the entrance and the Check-in counter is at top right corner. There is also a bag drop section added which is at the opposite to Check in. Between the gates and the security passport control, shops are added. The number of gates has increased from 8 to 18. Which are spread over a Y-shaped layout there is a sky train connecting the first gate to divergence. The arrival section has an addition of cafe, ATM and car hire.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of Southwest Airport before and after redevelopment, making relevant comparisons such as the expansion of the gates from 8 to 18 and the introduction of new facilities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the overall changes. However, there are some inaccuracies and minor omissions in the spatial descriptions; for instance, stating that 'the check-in counter is at top right corner' for the after-development plan is factually incorrect according to the visual data, where it is positioned centrally against the inner wall. Despite minor descriptive errors, the response adequately addresses the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from an introductory overview to the current layout and finally the future redevelopment plan. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, current state, and future state. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty or mechanical, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'Moving further from there, their is a Security Passport Control. After which their are 8 gates...'). Punctuation and sentence boundary errors, such as sentence fragments ('While, the arrivals area contains Passport Control Customs.'), detract slightly from smooth logical flow.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'redevelopment', 'concourse', 'divergence', and various airport facilities. However, there are noticeable word-choice and spelling errors that prevent a higher band, such as 'their' instead of 'there', 'check-in aisle', and awkward phrasing like 'the departures and arrivals entrance has two gates'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are evident, but occasional inaccuracies in collocation and vocabulary restrict the score to a solid Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The given plan shows the current site... and how it will look after significant changes...'. There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('several additions are made' instead of 'several additions are made' in a continuous sense, or 'their is a Security'), incorrect homophone usage ('their' for 'there'), and fragment sentences. While these errors occur regularly, they do not severely impede overall communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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