Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-09-29

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 maps, illustrate the changes took place in airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.

Overall, the area underwent significant changes over the period. Several new features were added, while some areas remained unchanged.

The major changes between both the layouts is that, the walkway area has been replaced to sky train. After that, the shops has been added in the redevelopment layout, which is not displayed in the present plan. Below the shops area, both security passport control and passport control customs areas remained in the same location.

Turning to the departure area, bag drop shop has been incorporated in the redevelopment plan, and the locations of some areas has been changed. In the current plan, checking area is situated at left side, which is now shifted to right side. Similarly for cafe area, it position has been changed from top right corner to left bottom, below the bag drop shop. Another important change in arrival area is that the addition of new places such as cafe, atm and car hire services. Which is not included in the current map.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the airport's layout before and after development, and makes relevant comparisons. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining that significant changes occurred alongside some unchanged areas. Key features such as the Y-shaped concourse, the sky train, and additions like shops, a bag drop, and car hire are correctly identified. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reporting the spatial changes, such as stating the walkway was replaced by a sky train when the sky train runs alongside the newly extended concourse. Despite this, the response clearly fulfills the requirements of Task 1, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into four paragraphs, moving from an introduction and overview to specific comparisons of the central concourse, departures, and arrivals areas. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as "Overall", "The major changes between both the layouts", and "Turning to the departure area". However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like "After that, the shops has been added". Paragraphing is handled sufficiently, but overall progression could be smoother. This level corresponds to a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms such as "redevelopment", "concourse", and "incorporated". However, there are frequent word-choice errors, incorrect collocations, and grammatical forms of words, such as "the changes took place in airport now" (instead of 'at the airport now'), "checking area" (instead of 'check-in'), and "it position" (possessive pronoun error). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited accuracy, placing this response firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but suffers from several grammatical inaccuracies and punctuation errors. Examples include comma splices and incorrect subject-verb agreement, such as "The maps, illustrate" and "the shops has been added". Additionally, fragment sentences like "Which is not included in the current map" undermine syntactic control. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they recur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching Band 6.0, resulting in a Band 5.5.

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

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