Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The figure shows the comparison between the site of airport at present and how it will look the next year after modern construction plan. At present,the airport is spread on a smaller area while there will be a significant increase in its area after redevelopment. There are relatively lesser facilities at this hour but there will be a hugh increase in the facilities in the near future. The apparent structure will remain the same. If the construction plan succeeds, it is expected to experience more facilities like bag drop,ATM,sky train as well as car hire. There will be a significant increase in gates. To cope with the problem of large distance, sky train will keep moving in order to transport passengers from one place to the other. There will be two gates for departure as well as for arrivals which is twice of what we have at present. There will be total 18 gates which are more than twice of what we have at this hour of time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall changes: the airport expands, facilities are added, and the number of gates rises from 8 to 18. These are relevant features, and the reference to a sky train is supported by the plan. However, several details are inaccurate or unclear: the plans do not show “two gates for departure as well as for arrivals”; rather, the gates are numbered 1–8 now and 1–18 after redevelopment. The claim that the apparent structure will remain the same also overlooks the new Y-shaped concourse. Most of the response lists general changes without describing where they occur, such as the relocated check-in, shops, or car hire area. A clearer overview and more precise spatial comparisons would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable sequence, moving from a general comparison to new facilities and then the gates and sky train. Linking phrases such as “At present” and “after redevelopment” help signal the time contrast. However, the ideas are presented as one continuous paragraph, and the progression is not consistently clear: the sky train is introduced before the gate comparison, while the claim about the structure remaining the same conflicts with the later description of expansion. Repetition of “at this hour” and “there will be” also makes the account feel list-like. Organise the response into an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing the main changes, using clear references to the two plans.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing development, including “redevelopment,” “facilities,” “gates,” and “transport passengers.” This gives you a workable range for the task. However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “modern construction plan” and “apparent structure” do not clearly describe the airport changes, while “lesser facilities” and “at this hour” are awkward in this context. There are also spelling and spacing slips, including “hugh” and missing spaces after commas in “present,the” and “bag drop,ATM,sky train.” Use more precise map vocabulary, such as “concourse,” “terminal,” “relocated,” and “extended,” and check spelling and punctuation spacing during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including a conditional clause (“If the construction plan succeeds”) and a purpose clause (“To cope with the problem of large distance”). Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems reduce accuracy. For example, “the site of airport” needs an article, and “how it will look the next year” is missing a preposition. “There will be two gates for departure as well as for arrivals” also has an unclear grammatical relationship between the gate count and the airport areas. Commas are often attached to the following word, and the final two sentences repeat the same future construction. Practise accurate articles and prepositions, and vary sentence openings while keeping each comparison clear.

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