Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-19

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 plans illustrate the changes that will take place in an airport following its redesign from now till next year.

Overall, the airport will be considerably modernised.Many facilities like ATM, care hire, sky train will be provided to the passengers. Gates will be increased in the number.

At present, airport has eight gates in the north side and only walkway service is available for the passengers. From north side, the building is divided into two parts. On right side of it , there is a room located for the passport control customs and opposite to it on the left side there is a separate room for the security passport control. On the left wall, the check-in facility is present and in the middle corner, a cafe is located for all the visitors. Gates for the departures and the arrivals are on the middle-left and middle-right of the building respectively.

Following the renovation, there will be total 18 gates and two sky trains will be available for the passengers. In the north-west corner, shops will be added. New facilities like ATM machine will be constructed on the right wall. Instead of one, two cafes will be added in the top right and bottom left of the building. In the bottom right , car hire service will also be available. Check-in facility is replaced to the top middle. Bag-drop service is also available on the left wall.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main transformation: the airport expands from eight gates to eighteen and gains facilities such as shops, a sky train, an ATM and car hire. The overview also recognises that the site will be modernised, and you compare several locations before and after redevelopment. Some details, however, are inaccurate or unclear: the current plan has a single walkway, not “only walkway service,” and the future plan shows one sky train route rather than “two sky trains.” The description of the current terminal’s security and passport-control areas is also confusing, while the major Y-shaped concourse expansion and its two arms are not explained. More precise coverage of these key changes, alongside accurate locations, would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, a brief overview, and separate descriptions of the current and future layouts. This gives the reader a generally logical progression, and time markers such as “At present” and “Following the renovation” help distinguish the two plans. However, some information is difficult to follow because spatial relationships are expressed imprecisely. For example, “From north side, the building is divided into two parts” and “opposite to it” do not make the locations of the terminal areas clear. The sentence about gates being “on the middle-left and middle-right” is also confusing. Use consistent directional references and group details by terminal area or concourse to make the progression more precise and cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the plans, including “redesign,” “renovation,” “facilities,” “check-in,” and “car hire.” These terms help communicate the main changes, and the meaning is generally understandable. However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise or repetitive: “Gates will be increased in the number” is awkward, and “only walkway service is available” does not naturally describe the current layout. “Care hire” is also a spelling error, and “ATM machine” is redundant. Aim for more accurate map-description language, such as “the number of gates will rise” and “a walkway connects the terminal to the gates.” Greater precision in describing locations would also strengthen your vocabulary control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including “Following the renovation, there will be total 18 gates and two sky trains will be available.” Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. Articles and determiners are missing in phrases such as “airport has eight gates” and “there will be total 18 gates”; the latter also needs a clearer construction, such as “there will be a total of 18 gates.” There are errors in sentence boundaries and spacing, as in “modernised.Many,” and punctuation around phrases such as “On right side of it ,” is inconsistent. Work on articles, prepositions, and punctuation, while varying sentence structures accurately, to improve control.

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