Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-10-31

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 plans illustrate the site of an airport now and how it will shape after reconstruction in upcomming year.

Overall, it can be seen that airport was redevelop during this period such as entrance gates were increased,airplane gates were increased which lacks in airport before development.

As we can see that gates used for arrival and departure were increased from two to four. Meanwhile, various changes were made such as check in gates was at the left after entrance which were moved to right and cafe which was at left moved to arrivals hall.Futhermore,a new cafe was introduced in departured lounge.

In addition,an atm and car hire was introduced in arrivals and bag drop at derpartures hall. Moreover,security and passport control remains at their same place while shops were built at the upper left corner over security control.Also gates were increased from eight to eighteen and sky train was introduced for passengers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad changes, including the increase from eight to eighteen gates and the addition of a sky train, shops, bag drop, ATM and car hire. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear: the plans show the check-in counter moving from the west wall to the inner wall beside Arrivals, not simply from left to right, and the café in Departures is relocated to the bottom-left rather than to Arrivals. The statement that arrival and departure gates increased from two to four is not supported by the plans. The overview also needs to summarise the major structural change—the concourse becoming Y-shaped—and distinguish it from changes inside the terminal. The response is 142 words, below the 150-word minimum; develop the key locations and comparisons to meet the requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic progression: an introduction, a general overview, and then details about the terminal and concourse. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “In addition” help signal relationships between points. However, the overview is not sufficiently distinct or informative, and the final two paragraphs read largely as a list of changes rather than a clearly grouped comparison of the two plans. Some links are also awkward or unclear, particularly “such as check in gates was at the left after entrance which were moved to right,” where the reader must work out which feature moved. Organise details by area—for example, the concourse first, then Departures and Arrivals—and use precise references to make the progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant airport vocabulary, including “arrivals hall,” “departures lounge,” “passport control,” “bag drop,” and “sky train,” so the topic is generally clear. There is also an attempt to describe change with words such as “increased,” “moved,” and “introduced.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, including “entrance gates” for the terminal entrances, “airplane gates,” and “check in gates.” Spelling errors such as “upcomming,” “Futhermore,” and “derpartures” are noticeable, while “redevelop” is not used in the correct form. Aim for precise map vocabulary and check spelling and collocations; this will make the description clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison with “Meanwhile” and a clause beginning “while.” However, errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between features difficult to understand. For example, “airport was redevelop” has an incorrect verb form, and “check in gates was … which were moved” has problems with agreement and sentence construction. The opening phrase “how it will shape” also does not express the intended future redevelopment accurately. Articles and sentence boundaries are often missing, as in “In addition,an atm,” and several clauses are joined without clear punctuation. Practise accurate past and future forms, subject–verb agreement, and shorter, complete sentences before adding more complex structures.

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