Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-11-01

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 5.5)

The plane illustrate the southwest airport now comparison how many changers are expected after redevolopment next year.

Overall, it can clearly be seen that they are major devolopment will occur in southwest airport while there were included many facilities

insaid and outsaide of the airport

Represent the airport now there were only few gates 1-8 on the northers side while the check in is located in the west of the said.Therefor walkaway facilities only available on todays airport.Departure and arrivals situated in west and east said the cafe is near to the checkin

disply the changes of airport look after redevelopment they are planing to develop 1-18 gates with sky train and car hire facility the check -in unchanged the location to the middle of the area. Meanwhile,new ATM set up in the eastern side. The cafe are is in same place and they add one more cafe shop at the southwest side.In contrast new bag drop facility is going to set up in the west side of the plane respectively

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main transformation: the airport is to be redeveloped, the gate capacity will expand from 1–8 to 1–18, and a sky train and car hire will be added. You also report several changes inside the terminal, including bag drop, an ATM and an additional café. These are relevant features and give the response a clear overall direction. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the check-in counter does not remain unchanged; it moves from the west wall to the inner wall beside Arrivals. The café’s original position is not retained as described, and the new café is in the bottom-left of Departures, not the southwest side of the airport generally. A clearer overview and more precise comparisons of the terminal layout would make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic progression from the airport’s current layout to the planned redevelopment, and paragraphing helps distinguish these stages. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “In contrast” show an attempt to connect information. However, the progression within the paragraphs is not always easy to follow: the current features and their locations are compressed into one long sentence, while the final paragraph moves between gates, check-in, the ATM, cafés and bag drop without a consistent route through the plan. Some connections are also unclear, as in “The cafe are is in same place.” Grouping features by area—concourse, Departures, then Arrivals—and using clearer references would improve the organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “gates,” “check-in,” “sky train,” “car hire,” “ATM” and “bag drop,” so the reader can recognise many of the facilities being described. However, the range and control are limited, and repeated general wording such as “facility” and “side” makes locations imprecise. Several spelling errors, including “redevolopment,” “devolopment” and “walkaway,” are noticeable, while phrases such as “the plane” and “many changers” are not appropriate for describing a site plan. Aim for accurate map vocabulary and collocations, such as “airport layout,” “is located on the western wall,” and “will be added.” This would make the description clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt to describe both present and future arrangements, and there are some simple clauses that communicate the main idea, such as “Meanwhile, new ATM set up in the eastern side.” However, sentence structures are often incomplete or inaccurately formed, which sometimes makes relationships between features difficult to understand. For example, “The plane illustrate the southwest airport now comparison how many changers are expected” lacks a clear grammatical structure, and “the check-in unchanged the location” does not form a complete clause. There are also recurring problems with articles, agreement and verb forms, as in “The cafe are” and “they are planing.” Practise complete subject–verb clauses and use present simple for the current plan and “will be” or “is planned to be” for future changes.

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