Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show the site of a farm in 1950 and the same site today.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.



 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The given maps illustrate the changes occured in the Beech wood farm from the year 1950 till today.

Overall, there are a lot of changes made in the farm .At the place of sheep area there are constructed camping field,parking and solar pannels.Soft fruits and vegetable area remained unchanged.There is positive development made in the farm now.

In 1950,there was a large empty area for sheeps on the north west direction of the farm .There were fruit trees on the beside the main highway on the right side.Soft frutis and vegetable area was on the west side of fruit tress .There was a river flowed through the boundary of the farm, and the south west area there were chicken ,a small farmhouse ,a barn located near the river side.

Today ,there are numerous changes made on the farm . There is a parking area constructed beside the highway on the opposite side of fruit trees.The further area divided into two parts ,one contains the camping field and on the other side which is on the south-west area of the farm there are solar pannels installed and below them there is again a parking area made.Holiday cottages are built the place of barn.Barn is shifted between the road which increased till between the vegetables area and chickens area.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the broad change from a sheep-farming area to a site with visitor facilities, and you note that the river and some agricultural uses remain. However, several details are inaccurate or unclear: the sheep area is described as north-west, while the plan places it north of the track; the solar panels are said to be south-west, though they are in the north-east corner; and the barn is not simply shifted between the road and the fields. The overview also says soft fruits and vegetables remained unchanged, but their locations and surrounding roads have changed. To strengthen the response, compare the main retained features with the new facilities more precisely, including the farm shop, cottages and road layout, and avoid unsupported judgements such as “positive development.”

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the two dates. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because locations are described inconsistently and references such as “the further area,” “the other side,” and “below them” are not sufficiently clear. The final paragraph also moves between the parking, camping field, solar panels and cottages without a clear spatial sequence. Organise details by area—for example, the western fields first, then the northern visitor facilities, and finally the eastern buildings—and use precise linking phrases such as “to the north-east of” or “south of” to make relationships clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “river,” “boundary,” “camping field,” “parking area” and “holiday cottages,” so the topic is generally understandable. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “constructed” and “installed.” However, spelling errors (“pannels,” “frutis,” “tress”) and awkward or imprecise combinations (“changes made in the farm,” “on the beside the main highway,” “barn is shifted”) reduce accuracy and naturalness. Some terms are also unsuitable for describing a plan: “empty area” does not clearly convey land used for sheep, and “highway” is less precise than “main road.” Build a reliable set of location and change expressions, and check spelling and collocation before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses linked with “which” and “where,” and the main meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence boundaries are frequent enough to make some descriptions awkward. Examples include “changes occured,” “there are constructed,” “There was a river flowed,” and “Holiday cottages are built the place of barn.” Several sentences also run together or lack punctuation, as in the overview after “farm.” Use past simple for the 1950 plan and present simple or present perfect consistently for today, and practise complete sentence patterns such as “A river flowed along the boundary” and “Holiday cottages have replaced the barn.”

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