Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-14

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 given plans demonstrate the site of an airport now and how it will look like after renovation in next year.

Overall, the gates of the airport will be extend from 8 to 18. In departures section, the bag drop facility will be added. In arrivals section, there will be addition of three resources.

Now there are only eight gates and only walkway option is available. After development, the gates will be increase to eighteen, along with the addition of sky train facility. To the south-west of the gates, shops will be open.

Moreover, security passport control and passport control customs will remain unchanged. However, regarding to departures section, the bag drop will replace the check-in and it will move to the right side. The cafe will be in the south of bag drop. In terms of arrivals area, the cafe will be constructed, an ATM facility will be added, and care hire option will be introduce.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main expansion from eight to eighteen gates and mention several new facilities, so the response is relevant and includes an overview. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the check-in is not replaced by the bag drop; it moves to the inner wall beside Arrivals, while bag drop is added on the west wall. The café is in the bottom-left corner, not south of the bag drop, and the shops’ position is described imprecisely. The statement that three resources are added in Arrivals is also not clearly distinguished from the café and ATM. The response is 146 words, below the required 150, and should include a little more accurate detail about the layout changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the gates and terminal areas. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Moreover,” and “However” help signal the stages of the description. However, progression is not always clear because features from different areas are grouped together, and some references are difficult to follow—for example, “the bag drop will replace the check-in and it will move to the right side” combines two separate changes. The repeated use of “In terms of” and “regarding” also makes the connections feel somewhat mechanical. Organise the details by location and state each change separately to make comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing airport facilities, including “gates,” “walkway,” “sky train,” “bag drop,” and “passport control.” This gives the reader a basic understanding of the redevelopment. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “three resources,” “only walkway option,” and “care hire option.” “Resources” is too general for facilities, while “care hire” appears to be a misspelling of “car hire.” Repeated use of “addition” and “facility” also reduces precision. Use standard map-description terms and more exact location language, such as “is added,” “is relocated,” and “in the bottom-left corner.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes simple statements and some attempts at more complex forms, such as “However, regarding to departures section…” and “After development, the gates will be increase…”. However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between changes unclear. Examples include “will be extend,” “will be increase,” and “will be introduce,” where the future passive requires “will be extended/increased/introduced.” There are also problems with articles and prepositions, as in “in next year” and “regarding to departures section.” The sentence about the bag drop replacing check-in is grammatically understandable but structurally confusing because it joins two different changes. Practise accurate passive forms and use shorter sentences when describing separate movements or additions.

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