Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-02
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 map illustrate changes to southwest airport. Overall, the area underwent significant transformation, with the most notable change being aafer development. It is clear that the airpor become more modernised with addition of new features.
In the north of the map there is a walkway, to the centre east of the passport control customs. The arrivals and departures is situated to the south of the main entrance. Ajacent to the airport west corner security paaport control, beside their left side checking area and opposite cafe.
A sky train constructed in north side and add some space. The shops add to the north west corner. In the beside of security passport control add to bag drop. I addintional to some new feature add passport contorl customs nearby cafe, ATM and car hire. The security passport control and passport control customs remin unchanged throughout the period. At the same thing there were no significant changes to the departures and arrivals gates.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response makes an attempt to address the prompt by describing some changes to Southwest Airport, but it only partially covers the visual data. Key features, such as the Y-shaped concourse extension, the addition of the sky train, and the rearrangement of check-in and security areas, are mentioned minimally or described with significant confusion. Furthermore, several assertions in the text contradict the maps, such as claiming that 'security passport control' remained unchanged or that there were no significant changes to the gates, when the concourse expanded significantly from 8 to 18 gates. The overview is extremely brief and lacks a clear, well-developed summary of the overall transformation, keeping the score at this level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
The organization of information lacks a clear overall progression. The essay is divided into short paragraphs, but ideas are grouped confusingly, and sentences within paragraphs do not flow logically from one to the next. For instance, jumping between the north walkway, passport control, arrivals, and departures without a clear spatial framework makes the description hard to follow. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive or misused, such as 'In the beside of' and 'At the same thing'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal logical links between sentences are frequently faulty, causing the reader to struggle to build a coherent mental picture of the airport maps.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and limited, featuring frequent word choice and collocation errors that occasionally impede communication. Phrases like 'airpor become more modernised', 'Ajacent to the airport west corner', and 'sky train constructed in north side' demonstrate a restricted range of lexical items. There are also noticeable spelling and word formation errors, such as 'illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'aafer', 'checking area' instead of 'check-in area', and 'I addintional'. While the writer attempts some task-specific vocabulary related to maps and airport facilities, the frequent slips restrict the score to this band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The response features a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic descriptive patterns that are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in verb forms, tenses, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions, such as 'the map illustrate', 'The arrivals and departures is situated', and 'The shops add to the north west corner'. Complex structures are attempted—for instance, 'with the most notable change being aafer development'—but they are awkward and inaccurate. Punctuation and article usage are also problematic throughout the text, with missing articles ('the addition of new features') and persistent mechanical errors that cause difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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