Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-08-15
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)
This plans illustrates Beechwood farm in 1950 and same site in it's current time.
Overall, the farm has been modernized considerably from a farm to a people vacation site. Fruit trees, soft fruits, vegetable farm, farm house remains same. Although camping field, solar panels, holiday cottages and two parking area has been newly added
In 1950, a track has passed from north-west to east direction, on the north side there was a large sheep farm, fruit trees, soft fruits and vegetable farm were situated on west side, Barn, farmhouse, chicken barn was located on the west .
In present time, the track has been replaced by road, sheep farm has been replaced by camping field for visitors, solar panel for power and parking area. Fruit trees, soft fruits, vegetables farm remains at exact same place new farm shop is established in front of fruit trees farm . farm house, chickens barn in west are not shifted where as, barn has been substituted by holiday cottages and a new small barn is made on the west of the road.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the two maps, identifying the key changes such as the conversion of the sheep farm to a camping site and the addition of infrastructure like solar panels and holiday cottages. However, the overview is slightly inaccurate; describing the site as a 'people vacation site' is a bit informal, and the claim that the farm house and chicken barn remain the same is contradicted by the visual evidence, which shows the chicken barn being removed. While the main trends are identified, the description of the layout could be more precise to better highlight the spatial relationships between the features in 1950 versus today.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, moving from an introduction to an overview and then into specific details. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally awkward, such as 'in west are not shifted where as'. The referencing is sometimes unclear, and the transition between the 1950 description and the present-day description could be smoother. While the overall progression is logical, the lack of sophisticated linking words and some repetitive sentence structures limit the flow of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. There are several instances of word-choice errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'people vacation site' instead of 'holiday destination' or 'tourist facility', and 'two parking area' (pluralization error). The student relies on basic descriptive terms like 'passed', 'replaced', and 'made'. To achieve a higher band, the student should incorporate more precise geographical and descriptive vocabulary, such as 'transformed', 'converted', 'situated', or 'adjacent to', to better describe the changes in the farm's layout.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('This plans illustrates', 'two parking area has been'), article misuse ('a track has passed from north-west to east direction'), and awkward passive voice constructions ('are not shifted'). While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the response from reaching a higher band. More attention to pluralization, articles, and consistent verb tense usage is required to improve accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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