Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-19
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 maps illustrate a farm in 1950 and current condition of the same place after years of changes.
Overall, the farm has seen significant new construction and additional facilities including the installation of solar panels, construction of Camping field and parking areas.
The area previously dedicated to sheep has undergone considerable changes. Firstly, solar panels have been installed for the purpose of electricity generation for the whole area. Secondly, Camping field has been built for camping. Two parking areas have been added to the place, one between the main road crossing the river and camping field while the other just below the solar panels near the small road. Apart from these changes, the old tracks that connected different places were upgraded to roads. Also, the old barn has been demolished and holiday cottages were built there. A new barn was constructed in the south of triangular road junction. Finally, a farm shop was added to the fruit trees section.
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 successfully satisfies the core requirements of Academic Task 1 by providing an overview and reporting the main changes between the 1950 farm and today. The student highlights key transformations, such as the addition of solar panels, the camping field, parking areas, holiday cottages, and the farm shop. However, the overview is somewhat limited, and certain spatial relationships and features (such as the conversion of the old orchard or the expansion of specific crop areas) are either missed or under-developed. Additionally, the description of the old barn being demolished and replaced by holiday cottages overlooks that the original barn structure appears to have been repurposed or replaced in a different location. Overall, the task is addressed adequately, but more comprehensive coverage of the visual data is needed for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a clear overall progression, moving from an introductory statement to an overview paragraph and finally a detailed body paragraph outlining specific changes. Logical sequencing is generally maintained, and cohesive devices are employed, such as sequencing words like 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Finally'. However, paragraphing is somewhat weak; the second and third sentences of the introduction are abruptly separated from the opening sentence, and the entire body of changes is compressed into a single, overly dense paragraph instead of being logically divided (e.g., separating the northern developments from the southern ones). Referencing and substitution are occasionally repetitive, such as the repeated use of 'changes' and 'added'.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to maps and rural environments such as 'construction', 'facilities', 'demolished', and 'upgraded'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'considerable changes' and 'electricity generation'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'construction of Camping field' (missing an article) and 'the small road' (rather than the internal road or track). Spelling is generally accurate, but the lack of lexical flexibility and precision prevents the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating passive voice constructions such as 'have been installed' and 'were built'. Grammatical control is fairly good, but there are several noticeable errors, particularly with missing articles ('construction of Camping field', 'crossing river') and preposition usage ('in the south of triangular road junction' instead of 'to the south'). Despite these errors, meaning is rarely impeded, and the majority of simple sentences are accurate, allowing the text to read quite smoothly.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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