Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-04
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 blueprint shows the area of a farm in 1950 and same site today with certain changes. This farm name is Beechwood farm.
Overall, both the diagram have a major changes like in area, farm land and track. Today they have a lots of various aspects rather than the year of 1950.
In the year of 1950 Beechwood farm had a low quality things for instance; track, barn and farmhouse. Firstly hole Beechwood farm was covered by river and road in addition to that one major area was covered by sheep. In the year of 1950 they had not solar panels. Moreover, they had Fruit trees near by road and river also as well as soft fruits and vegetables all three area divided in equal land.
Today, they have wide range of aspects to do farming. First and foremost they convert track into road. Second thing is solar panels save the electricity of the farm. Furthermore, they include fancy things like Holiday cottages, parking, Farmshop, and main camping filed which makes more beautiful to Beechwood farm.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the two maps, identifying key changes such as the conversion of the track to a road and the addition of new facilities like the farm shop and holiday cottages. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. The description of the 1950 layout is imprecise, using vague phrasing like 'low quality things' and 'all three area divided in equal land,' which does not accurately reflect the visual data. While the main trends are identified, the report lacks a clear, analytical overview that synthesizes the transformation of the site effectively. To improve, focus on using more precise spatial language and ensuring that all major features are described with clarity rather than subjective descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression from the 1950 layout to the current one. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate, such as 'First and foremost they convert track into road. Second thing is...' which feels repetitive. Some transitions are awkward, such as 'In addition to that one major area was covered by sheep,' which lacks clear logical connection to the preceding sentence. The referencing is occasionally unclear, making the flow between ideas feel somewhat disjointed. Improving the variety and naturalness of linking words would significantly enhance the overall coherence of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is limited and occasionally inappropriate for an academic report. Phrases like 'low quality things' and 'fancy things' are too informal and imprecise for a task describing a map. There is some attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'solar panels,' 'holiday cottages,' 'camping filed'), but errors in word choice and collocation are frequent. For instance, 'camping filed' is a spelling error, and 'aspects to do farming' is not a natural collocation. To reach a higher band, you should focus on using more precise nouns and verbs to describe spatial changes, such as 'replaced by,' 'expanded,' or 'converted into,' while avoiding informal, subjective language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but grammatical errors are frequent and occasionally impede clarity. There are consistent issues with articles ('the year of 1950,' 'the road'), subject-verb agreement ('both the diagram have'), and pluralization ('all three area'). Additionally, some sentences are poorly constructed, such as 'Today they have a lots of various aspects rather than the year of 1950.' While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for article usage and plural forms would lead to immediate improvement.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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