Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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

map ielts writing task 1

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The diagram shows the planning of today's site of the Southwest airport and how it would look after redevelopment in the upcoming year.

Overall, the size of the aiport after redevelopment would increase, there would be new facilities for the passengers such as ATM, sky train, car hire, bag drop also some huge development in the number of total gates added in the development plan of Southwest airport.

In Today's planning it consists of two sections, one for departures and another for arrivals for the passenger. The airport also has check-in counter as well as a cafe in the departures area, while the arrival has no such facilities for now. As me move inside the airport, there is walkway for the passengers to board the flight and finally the airport has of 8 gates.

After development stage, new ammenities are being added to the arrivals site such as cafe just after passing the customs followed by an ATM and car hire which would be convinient for the passengers. Whereas in the departures section few facilites would be repositioned, as passengers enter the departures, they can find cafe as well as bag-drop to the left and to the opposite of bag-drop we would have check-in counter for passengers. As we pass the security section passengers would expect to have new shops before boarding the plane. Previously it had walkway which would be replaced with sky train to ease the traffic flow of passengers. Finally, after the redevelopment phase it would introduce more than twice the number of current existing gates.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover both the current and proposed layouts and give a clear overview of the main changes: the terminal expands, passenger facilities are added or moved, and the gate capacity rises from 8 to 18. Most details are relevant, including the new café, ATM and car hire in Arrivals, and the shops and sky train near the gates. Some spatial descriptions are imprecise: for example, the new café and bag drop are not both to the left as described, and the shops are not simply “before boarding” but lie between Departures and the concourse. The comparison that the gates more than double is also inaccurate: 18 is more than twice 8. More precise reporting of locations and the changed gate total would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by separate paragraphs describing the current and future layouts. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall,” “After development stage,” and “Finally” help signal progression. However, some linking is mechanical or unclear. “Whereas” begins a sentence without a clear contrasting clause, while “As me move inside” and “As we pass the security section” create an informal, shifting viewpoint. The sequence of details in the future-layout paragraph could also be organised more consistently by describing Departures, the concourse, and Arrivals in turn. Clearer referencing and more controlled transitions would make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing an airport plan, including “redevelopment,” “facilities,” “repositioned,” and “traffic flow.” These choices help communicate the main changes, and the reader can generally understand the intended locations and functions. Some word choices and collocations are imprecise or informal, however: “today’s planning” is not a natural way to refer to the current layout, and “huge development in the number” is awkward. There are also spelling errors in “aiport,” “ammenities,” “convinient,” and “facilites.” Aim for precise map-description terms and check spelling carefully; this would make the vocabulary more accurate and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses with “while,” “as,” and “which,” and the overall meaning is usually clear. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in sentence construction and verb forms. For example, “In Today’s planning it consists of two sections” has an unclear subject and awkward structure; “As me move inside” should use a consistent subject and verb; and “the airport has of 8 gates” contains an unnecessary preposition. The future description also shifts between “would,” “are being added,” and “we would have,” so the time reference is not consistently controlled. Practise building complete sentences with clear subjects and maintaining a consistent tense when comparing the present plan with the proposed one.

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