Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 illustrate the changes that have taken place in the beechwood farm between 1950 and the present day.

Overall, the farm has undergone significant redevelopment. There are an additional new facilities such as solar panels, holiday cottages and camping field and the south west side remains unchanged.

In 1950, the north side of the track was allocated for sheep while there were fruit trees,soft fruits and vegetables on the southwest side of track and the barn, farmhouse and chicken farm were on the southeast side of the track beside the river.

Today the space that was for sheep has been redeveloped with parking beside road and camping field with tree while solar panels has been set up on the northern side with an additional parking.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the broad change from a sheep-farming site to one with new facilities, and correctly mention the sheep area, the three crop areas, parking, camping and solar panels. However, the account is only partial: it omits important changes such as the farm shop and the conversion of the area east of the farmhouse into holiday cottages. The claim that the south-west side “remains unchanged” is too broad; the crop plots remain, but a farm shop and roads are also shown there. Some locations are unclear or inaccurate, including placing the farmhouse and chickens “beside the river.” The response is also below the required 150 words, which limits the detail and comparisons you can provide. Add a fuller overview and describe the main changes to the eastern and central parts of the site.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the two time periods. This makes the main sequence easy to follow, and time markers such as “In 1950” and “Today” help distinguish the plans. However, the final paragraph is a single long sentence that combines several features without clearly showing their relationships. The overview also groups new facilities together but does not organise the changes by area. Develop the comparison in a more systematic order—for example, describe the western fields first, then the northern facilities, and finally the buildings in the east. Use linking phrases such as “whereas” or “in contrast” to make changes between the plans clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “redeveloped,” “allocated,” “facilities,” and “solar panels,” and the reader can generally understand the features you describe. However, the range is limited, with repeated reliance on “side,” “track,” and “additional,” and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural. For example, “chicken farm” does not accurately name the enclosure labelled “Chickens,” while “an additional new facilities” is not a natural phrase. “The space that was for sheep” could be expressed more precisely as the former sheep field. Broaden your range with accurate terms for locations and changes, such as “north-east,” “was replaced by,” and “was converted into.” Check collocations and word forms when describing facilities.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the contrast between the two periods. Most ideas remain understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. In “There are an additional new facilities,” the article and plural noun do not agree; write “There are additional facilities.” In “solar panels has been set up,” the plural subject requires “have,” and “set up” is better replaced by a suitable passive construction such as “were installed.” The phrase “between 1950 and the present day” also needs the article “the” before “Beechwood Farm” if referring to the named site. Use a wider range of accurate comparison structures and check agreement, articles, and punctuation, including the missing space after “trees,”.

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