Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-12
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 diagrams illustrates the site of a farm in 1950 and in the present time.
From an overall analysis, the beechwood farm have been built some new facilities in todays farm such as parking ,farm shop ,camping field, holiday cottages. Meanwhile , the sheep has been replaced by the camping field.
To expound the chart in detail, in 1950 the beechwood had sheep in the north-east area. Probing ahead ,the fruit trees was situated close to road in the north-west and in the middle of the map there was soft fruits and vegetables .furthermore, in the east-south area there was one farmhouse and below its one chickens .Moreover ,the one river was located below the road in 1950.
As further scrutiny reveals, in recent time the beechwood farm have undergone new establishments. Meanwhile, there is installment of solar panels in the north -east corner and new parking is built in the east side of the map linking to the road. However, the camping fields have been developed in the north and new parking beside the camping field. In addition, the are facilities like fruit trees ,soft fruits and vegetables are at their initial areas.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by summarizing the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two time periods. The student identifies key changes, such as the replacement of the sheep area with a camping field and the addition of new facilities like a farm shop, holiday cottages, and solar panels. However, some areas are described a bit informally, and certain details are slightly under-developed or expressed with awkward phrasing (e.g., 'below its one chickens'). Despite these minor flaws, an overall clear overview is provided, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from an introduction to detailed descriptions of the past and present layouts. Paragraphing is attempted, separating the overview from the chronological details, though paragraph breaks and transitions could be managed more smoothly. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkward (e.g., 'To expound the chart in detail', 'As further scrutiny reveals', 'Probing ahead'), which pulls down the score slightly. Referencing is generally clear, but the overall flow can feel disjointed due to non-standard transitional phrases. This aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items related to maps and facilities, such as 'holiday cottages', 'camping field', and 'solar panels'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies throughout the text (e.g., 'The given diagrams illustrates', 'have been built some new facilities', 'there is installment of solar panels'). While these errors do not impede communication, they demonstrate limitations in precision and lexical control, making Band 5.5 the most appropriate score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complexity frequently contain grammatical errors. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('the beechwood farm have been built', 'the fruit trees was situated'), incorrect prepositions ('in the east-south area'), and missing articles ('the one river'). Punctuation and spacing errors (e.g., extra spaces before commas) are also present. While communication is generally maintained despite these frequent errors, the high density of structural inaccuracies prevents the writing from reaching Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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