Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-11

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 diagrams below illustrate the site of an airport on how it is today and how it will look after redevelopment next year.

Overall, the airport will have become more advanced and more infrastructure will be developed with newer aminities and facilities, such as bag drop,car hire,sky train,gates and atm.

Observing the first diagram, coming from the south there are two gates for arrivals and departures. Entering through the arrival gate there are a passport control and coustom section. Just opposite it is security and passport control housing a check in counter and a cafe for the departing guests.At the back-end of the airport there are 8 gateways and walkways for boarding .

In the future, the airport will have more facilities and infrastructure change with more arrival and departure gates . In the arrival section it will have new car hire a ATM and a new cafe .Onto the departure section a bag drop has took place instead of the check in counter .just behind the security and passport control a new shop van be seen .Along with 10 new gateway for boarding will be constructed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both the current and planned layouts and identify several important changes, including the added car hire, café and ATM, the bag-drop facility, shops, and the increase in gates. The overview also recognises that the airport will gain facilities. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the current layout has entrance doors for arrivals and departures, not “two gates,” and the check-in counter is not housed with security and passport control. The future plan expands the gates from 8 to 18, so “10 new gateways” is broadly correct, but the new check-in position beside Arrivals and the Y-shaped concourse are important changes that are omitted. More precise coverage of these features would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, a description of the present layout, and a paragraph about the redevelopment. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information. Sequencing phrases such as “Observing the first diagram” and “In the future” help distinguish the two plans, although some transitions feel mechanical. Within paragraphs, several details are crowded together, and the relationship between them is not always clear—for example, the sentence beginning “Just opposite it” makes the locations of the café, check-in, and security difficult to follow. Use clearer spatial links such as “to the left,” “adjacent to,” and “at the far end,” and group features by area to improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “passport control,” “bag drop,” “car hire,” “infrastructure,” and “boarding.” These terms show awareness of the airport context, and the main message remains understandable. However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing a plan: “two gates for arrivals and departures” confuses entrances with boarding gates, while “gateways” is less suitable than “gates.” There are also spelling errors, including “aminities,” “coustom,” and “ATM” written as “atm,” as well as awkward phrases such as “a new shop van be seen.” Aim for accurate, consistent labels from the diagram and use precise location vocabulary rather than broad expressions such as “more advanced.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, and the present-to-future contrast is generally clear. Some sentence patterns are effective, such as “In the future, the airport will have more facilities.” However, errors in verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries are noticeable. For example, “a bag drop has took place” should be “a bag-drop facility will be added,” and “a ATM” should be “an ATM.” The final paragraph also contains a run-on sequence, with “.just behind” incorrectly starting a new sentence in lowercase. Review future forms for planned changes and check articles and punctuation; these corrections would make your descriptions easier to follow.

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