Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-08

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 plans illustrates the site of an airport at present and the future redevelopment plan next year.

Overall, at present the airport site is not well-organised and enhanced. Moreover, after the redevelopment in the next year the site will have considerable ametities and facilities with the construction of bag drop, ATM, sky train and car hire.

At present, the site of an airport is underdevelop. It has walkaway area with 8 gates in the northern site, with security passport control, cafe, and check-in at the west of the site. Additionally, passport control and customs are in the east. However, departures and arrivals are at the south of the site.

In next year, walkaway will be replace by skytrain with 18 gates accompaning by the shops beside it. In the west of site construction of bag drop,check-in and cafe will take place. In the east their will be cafe, ATM, and care hires. And at the south their will be the departures and arrivals unit.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change clearly: the airport expands from eight gates to eighteen and gains facilities such as a sky train, shops, bag drop, an ATM and car hire. The overview also distinguishes the current layout from the planned redevelopment. However, some details are inaccurate or too general. The current check-in is on the west wall of Departures, but security and passport control are not simply “at the west”; they are between Departures and the concourse. In the future, check-in moves to the inner wall beside Arrivals, rather than being grouped with the new bag drop and café in the west. The description of the Y-shaped concourse and the locations of the new facilities could be more precise. These relevant but unevenly developed details fit the response’s level of task coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the present and future layouts. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and time markers such as “At present” and “In next year” help signal the stages. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. For example, “Moreover” does not add a distinct overview point, while “However” introduces a contrast that is not clearly established. The final paragraph strings together locations with repeated “In the west,” “In the east,” and “And at the south,” rather than guiding the reader through the plan in a consistent order. Use clearer spatial sequencing and link each change directly to its current equivalent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant airport vocabulary, including “gates,” “passport control,” “customs,” “bag drop,” and “car hire,” so the reader can understand the main subject and several changes. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “redevelopment” and “considerable.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “walkaway” is used for “walkway,” “ametities” for “amenities,” and “care hires” for “car hire.” Some phrases are also unnatural, including “underdevelop” and “construction of bag drop.” Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling, especially for key labels from the plan. A broader, more precise range of location and change vocabulary would make the description clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Moreover” and the contrast introduced by “However.” The main ideas are generally understandable, but errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence construction are noticeable. For example, “The plans illustrates” should use a plural verb, and “walkaway will be replace” needs a passive form such as “the walkway will be replaced.” In “their will be cafe,” the subject form and article are incorrect; “there will be a café” is needed. The sentence beginning “In the west of site construction…” also needs an article and clearer structure. Practise accurate future passive forms and check each sentence for complete, correctly formed clauses.

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