Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-21

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

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Student answer (Band 4.5)

The plans illustrate the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year. It is clear that now airport have few facilities in this year they have only 1 to 8 customers walkaway gates. Security passport control have check in one cafe and 8 gates. Passport control customers have not any facilities.

The only places that remained the same airport over the period were 1 to 18 gates and the many others facilities. After the development security passport control have check in and bag drop and a cafe. They develop many things. Passport control customers office have a coffee bar ATM machine and a car hire facilities. In one year they redevelop their airport with best facilities.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the general topic and mention several planned additions, including bag drop, a café, an ATM and car hire. However, the response only minimally summarises the plans: it gives few accurate comparisons of the airport’s layout, and some details are confused. For example, gates 1–18 are a feature of the redeveloped plan, not something that remained unchanged, and the current plan has gates 1–8. The statement that the current airport has “not any facilities” in Arrivals also overlooks passport control and customs. The response contains 107 words, below the required 150, so it does not provide enough detail to cover the main features. Include a clear overview and accurately describe the major changes to the concourse and terminal.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: it first describes the current airport, then turns to the redevelopment. This gives the reader some sense of the two stages, and phrases such as “After the development” signal a change in time. However, the ideas are not grouped or connected clearly enough to form a coherent summary. The first section combines gates, security and check-in without explaining their locations, while “They develop many things” does not specify what the preceding details mean. The claim about what “remained the same” also interrupts the progression and is unclear. Use separate paragraphs for the current and future layouts, and organise each around the terminal and concourse, with accurate linking phrases such as “By contrast” and “In addition.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some relevant airport vocabulary, including “passport control,” “check in,” “gates,” “ATM machine” and “car hire,” so the topic is recognisable. However, the range is basic and repetitive, and several word choices or combinations make the meaning unclear. “Customers” appears to be used where “customs” is intended, while “walkaway gates” does not accurately name the walkway or gates. Phrases such as “best facilities” are vague and evaluative rather than suitable for a factual report. Aim for precise location and change vocabulary, such as “is situated,” “is relocated,” “is extended” and “is added,” and use the labels from the plans accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most sentences use simple structures, and the reader can understand the broad intention, but grammatical control is inconsistent. For example, “now airport have few facilities” is missing an article and has incorrect subject–verb agreement; “they have only 1 to 8 customers walkaway gates” is difficult to parse; and “Passport control customers office have” has an unclear noun structure and agreement error. The response also shifts between present and future forms without consistently distinguishing the current plan from the redevelopment. There is little variety in sentence patterns, and errors sometimes obscure relationships between features. Practise accurate present-simple descriptions and future passive forms, for example, “The concourse will be extended” and “Check-in will be moved beside Arrivals.”

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