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 map illustrates the transformation of farm from 1950 to present day.
Overall there was significant changes in the northern side of the diagram as construction of different things has been made upon the region. Likewise, the has been minor change towards the south region. However, some areas remain unchnged till today.
In the northern part, the big land for sheep has been segmentated into differnet places like in the top east side there has been installation of solar pannels with its parking space. Likewise, beside it there has been addition of camping field with two camping tents and a tree in it along with its parking space in present.Similarly, the track has been transformed into road.
In the southern region, there is minor changes that can be observed such as building of small farm store. Construction of holiday cottages has been made in the eastern part where there was barn in 1950, which now has been relocated to side of vegatables land.and can be accesed through road. Despite all the transformation some areas such as soft fruits, vegetables , farmhouse, and chicken stayed at same place till now.
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 student makes a good attempt to summarise the main features of the maps, noting the significant changes in the northern section and minor developments in the south, while correctly identifying features that remained unchanged, such as the farmhouse and vegetable area. An overview is provided at the beginning, satisfying key task requirements. However, the description is somewhat restricted in detail and contains minor inaccuracies regarding feature locations, such as stating the barn was relocated to the side of the vegetable land when the maps show the new holiday cottages replaced the barn and the barn was moved elsewhere. Overall, the response addresses all parts of the task adequately, earning a band score of 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into four paragraphs, following a logical layout with an introduction, overall summary, northern section, and southern section. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the comparisons, such as 'In the northern part', 'In the southern region', and 'Similarly'. However, paragraphing and sentence flow are occasionally impacted by punctuation errors and awkward transitions, such as starting a sentence with a lowercase letter following a period. Referencing is mostly clear, but the overarching progression feels slightly mechanical at times. This performance aligns well with the descriptors for a band score of 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing map transformations, including terms like 'transformation', 'relocated', 'solar panels', and 'camping field'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'unchnged', 'segmentated', 'differnet', 'pannels', and 'vegatables'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score. Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success. Consequently, a band score of 5.5 is appropriate for this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilising structures such as 'Despite all the transformation some areas such as soft fruits... stayed at same place'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, including missing articles ('the transformation of farm', 'to present day'), subject-verb agreement problems ('there was significant changes'), and run-on sentences with incorrect punctuation ('vegetables land.and can be accesed'). While these errors do not prevent the general meaning from coming across, they occur consistently enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Therefore, a band score of 5.0 is awarded.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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