Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-13

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 that took place in site of an airport in Southwest between now and after redevelopment next year.

Overall, walkway and gates underwent significant changes during redevelopment, whereas so many additional features were added like ATM, sky train, care hire, bag drop and some existing features were relocated such as cafe in the departures.

At present, southwest airport consists of walkway, cafe and gates. Walkway located near the gates and easily pass departures as well as arrivals, whereas cafe is situated in departures area. In additional, gates 1-8 were loacted outside of the airport through these gates passengers entry and exit occurs.

In future, the airport had changed significantly. Sky train added inplace of walkway that directly connected to both arrivals and departures. In between security check and gates shops were added, Bag drop counters were newly added in departures and gates are extend to 18. Moreover, at arrivals Atm, new cafe and tarnsport were newly located.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main transformation: the concourse expands from eight gates to eighteen, and new facilities such as shops, a sky train, bag drop, an ATM and car hire are introduced. The overview also recognises that some existing features change. However, several details are unclear or inaccurate. The original walkway is described as allowing passengers to “pass departures as well as arrivals,” and the gates are said to be “outside” the airport, neither of which reflects the plan. The sky train runs along the concourse stem, rather than directly connecting the arrivals and departures areas. You also omit important changes, including the relocated check-in counter and the new car-hire area. The main features are covered, but some are less fully and precisely reported than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, a description of the current layout and a paragraph about the redevelopment. This gives the reader a sensible route through the comparison, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “At present” and “In future” help signal the stages. Some connections between details are less clear, however. For example, “Walkway located near the gates and easily pass departures as well as arrivals” does not explain the spatial relationship coherently, while “In between security check and gates shops were added” is difficult to follow. The overview also lists additions without grouping them by area. More precise referencing and a consistent description of the terminal, concourse and individual areas would make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “redevelopment,” “relocated,” “departures,” “arrivals” and “gates,” and you attempt to name several new facilities. This gives you enough range to communicate the broad changes. However, word choice and spelling errors are noticeable: “care hire” and “tarnsport” obscure the intended labels, while “gates are extend” and “gates ... outside of the airport” are imprecise descriptions. Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “In additional” and “newly located.” Aim for accurate map vocabulary and natural collocations, and check spelling carefully. Using terms such as “concourse,” “terminal,” “positioned” and “extended” more precisely would help you describe locations and changes with greater clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast in the overview (“whereas...”) and a relative clause in “gates 1-8 were loacted outside of the airport through these gates passengers entry and exit occurs.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships difficult to understand. Examples include the missing article in “in site of an airport,” the incomplete construction “Walkway located,” and the incorrect verb forms in “gates are extend” and “the airport had changed.” The sentence beginning “through these gates” also needs clearer punctuation and a complete grammatical structure. Use consistent present and future forms to compare the two plans, and check articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas easier to follow.

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