Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-07

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 diagram illustrates the development of an airport from past to the to the next year.

Overall, the site underwent significant changes.while several areas of the site were redisgned, expanded and replaced departure and arrival area remained unchanged.in addition several new facilities were added and the airport looked more modern, better equipped and larger.

initially, the airport consisted eight gates departure and arrival area.on the left hand side there was check in while the right hand side contained cafe.in addition there was walkaway. when the area was redisgned the check in was replaced by bag drop and check in area was rellocated on the right hand side opposite to security passport area.in addition several new facilities were added including atm, car hire, sky train and cafes.and gates were expanded from 8 to 18 to make more rooms for crowd.#.However, security passport control and passport control customs remained in its original position throughout the period. In addition, departure and arrival was enlarged from one gate to two gates. By the end of the period, the area had become more modern and better equipped

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main transformation: the concourse expands from eight to eighteen gates, and new facilities such as a sky train, ATM and car hire are introduced. You also note that passport-control and customs areas remain in place. These are relevant features and give the response a clear overall direction. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the departure and arrival areas are not described as enlarged from one gate to two, and the check-in counter is relocated to the inner wall beside Arrivals rather than simply “opposite to security passport area.” The overview that the terminal areas “remained unchanged” also conflicts with the later mention of changes to their facilities. Develop the comparison more precisely by distinguishing unchanged core areas from altered internal layouts and the expanded concourse.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an identifiable overall structure: an introduction, a broad overview and a description of changes. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Initially,” “In addition” and “However” help signal relationships between points. However, progression is weakened by the long, crowded body paragraph, which moves between the original layout, new facilities and unchanged features without a clear sequence. Some links are repetitive, especially “in addition,” and the final sentence repeats the general claim that the airport became more modern. Separate the description into a paragraph for the current plan and one for the redevelopment, and group details by location or function. Clearer sentence boundaries and more precise references would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “relocated,” “expanded,” “facilities” and “remained in its original position.” This gives you a useful range for reporting changes and locations. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “redisgned,” “walkaway,” “rellocated” and “make more rooms for crowd.” Some phrases are also vague or unnatural, such as “the area had become more modern” and “departure and arrival area.” Use the exact facility names consistently and choose standard map-description collocations, such as “the concourse was extended” or “additional passenger facilities were installed.” Proofreading spelling and plural forms would make your meaning more reliable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex structures, including the contrast in “while several areas … were …, departure and arrival area remained unchanged” and the clause beginning “However.” The main ideas are generally recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to affect clarity. For example, “The diagram illustrates the development … from past to the to the next year” has a faulty time phrase, while “initially, the airport consisted eight gates departure and arrival area” lacks necessary grammatical links and articles. There are also agreement and sentence-boundary problems in “departure and arrival was enlarged.” Practise complete clauses, articles, plurals and consistent past/future framing, and use full stops to separate ideas rather than joining several changes in one sentence.

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