Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-25
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 4.5)
Airport will more gates from now with the numbers of 18. Now airport have only check in,walk way , cafe and gates and after development it will be cafe, gates 1 to 18, bag drop, ATM, car hire , sky train as well. after development airport will be currency exchange and duty free also. Airport will be more technology than now. Airport will be double arrival and departure gates. Airport will be more car parking space after development . Airport will be double in size.More aircraft will be land . airport will carry more passengers as well. Airport will be more beautiful interior and design.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 3.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
You identify the main change in gate capacity, noting that the airport will expand from eight gates to 18, and you mention several genuine additions, including a bag drop, ATM, car hire and sky train. However, the response only minimally describes the plans: it does not explain the existing layout or where the new facilities will be located, and it gives little comparison between the two maps. Several claims are unsupported by the visual, such as currency exchange, duty-free shops, more parking, a larger building and increased aircraft or passenger numbers. The response is also 45 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail you can provide. Focus on the mapped changes and include a clear overview of the Y-shaped concourse and the relocated or added facilities.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5
The response contains a basic sequence from the airport now to its future features, and the repeated phrase “after development” signals a comparison. However, the ideas are presented as one continuous list, with no paragraphing or clear grouping of terminal changes, concourse changes and unsupported predictions. Repetition of “Airport will be more” also makes the progression difficult to follow, while links between points are mostly absent. For example, the gate increase and the additions of an ATM and car hire could be grouped into a paragraph about the redevelopment, after an opening overview of the current layout. Use a small number of clear paragraphs and linking phrases such as “In contrast” and “In addition” to make the comparison easier to follow.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “gates,” “bag drop,” “ATM,” “car hire” and “sky train,” so the reader can recognise several planned facilities. However, the range is limited and repetitive, with “airport,” “more” and “after development” used repeatedly. Some expressions are imprecise or do not match the map: “double arrival and departure gates” is unclear, and “currency exchange” and “duty free” are not shown. More precise terms such as “terminal,” “concourse,” “facilities” and “gate capacity” would help describe the plans accurately. Choose vocabulary that reports visible features rather than speculating about services or appearance, and vary repeated words where appropriate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
Most of the response uses short, simple statements, and the basic meaning of several points can be understood. However, there is little variety in sentence structure, and frequent errors affect accuracy. For example, “Airport will more gates” is missing a verb, while “Now airport have” has problems with the article and subject–verb agreement. The phrase “with the numbers of 18” is also not formed accurately, and punctuation is inconsistent, including missing spaces after commas and lower-case sentence openings. Practise complete comparative sentences, such as “The airport will have 18 gates, compared with eight at present.” Check articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries before submitting.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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