Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-11-06

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 plans below shows the comparison of a same site in two different years.

To begin with, let's discuss about how the site looked during 1950. As we can see there is a road on the upper end of the site. To the right of the road, we can see fruit trees, soft fruits and vegetables. There is a track moving along the three mentioned above till the very end of the site. There is also a river by the other end of the road that also continues to the end of the site. On the other side of the site, we can see a barn, a farm house and also chickens in between the track and the river. On the very upper end of the track, sheep can be seen.

However Today, we can see a few similarities and changes in the same site. The furits trees, soft fruits and vegetables remain the same with river flowing along one side meanwhile the track has changed to a road. We can also see a farm shop near the fruit trees. Along the road, a new camping site has been built with a parking. In the upper corner, we can see solar panels with a different parking.

Moreover, the barn has been moved to the center of the road near the vegetables. Along the barn, there are chickens and farm house but we can see new holiday cottages built beside the farm houses.

To conclude this, the solar panels, holdiday cottages, farm shops are newly built along with the track turned into a road while the rest remains the same

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast between the farm in 1950 and today, and include several relevant changes, such as the farm shop, camping area, solar panels and holiday cottages. However, the account is not consistently accurate or sufficiently selective. The fruit trees, soft fruits and vegetables remain in broadly similar areas, but the response says the track became a road without explaining the wider changes to the internal layout. It also places the barn “in the center of the road near the vegetables”; today it is at the southern end of a road junction, southwest of the farmhouse. The overview that “the rest remains the same” is too general, since the sheep area is replaced by new uses and the eastern area is substantially redeveloped. Compare the main changes more precisely and avoid unsupported location claims.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall sequence: it describes the earlier plan, moves to today, and ends with a brief summary. Paragraphing helps distinguish the two time periods, and linking expressions such as “However” and “Moreover” make the progression easy to follow. At times, though, the organisation is more like a list of features than a comparison of the plans. Phrases such as “Along the barn” and “the other end of the road” do not make the spatial relationships clear, while “To conclude this” introduces a summary that largely repeats earlier points. Grouping changes by area—for example, the western fields and the redeveloped eastern section—would make the comparisons more coherent and reduce reliance on repeated “we can see.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough map-related vocabulary to communicate the main features, including “river,” “track,” “farm shop,” “camping site” and “solar panels.” There is also some attempt to describe change with phrases such as “remain the same” and “has been moved.” However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or awkward for a formal report: “the very end of the site,” “a parking,” and “Along the barn” do not clearly express the intended locations. Spelling slips such as “furits” and “holdiday” are noticeable, and “farm house” is inconsistently written as one or two words. Use more precise location language and check spelling and collocations to make the description clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, and the reader can generally follow the comparison. Some grammatical errors remain, however. The opening says “The plans below shows,” where the plural subject requires “show,” and “discuss about how” uses an unnecessary preposition. In “the same site in two different years,” the article and phrasing are not well controlled; “the same site in two different years” could be expressed more naturally as “the same site at two different times.” There are also tense and sentence-boundary issues, including “However Today” and the final sentence, which joins several changes without clear punctuation. Use consistent past and present forms for the two maps, and proofread agreement, articles and punctuation.

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