Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-22
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 the layout of a beechwood farm in 1950 and today.
Overall, the basic layout of the farm remained largely unchanged, with the fruits trees, soft fruits , vegetables, farmhouse and chicken retaining their original position. However, several new facilities were introduced, including a farm shops, parking areas, camping field, solar panels and holiday cottages, while the sheep were removed.
The main road remained unchanged in the top left corner, although fruits stayed in the same position and farm shops were created in it. Soft fruits and vegetables in the center of the farm retained their original position. Track was replaced by road and barn was along the right side of the farm and relocated to the road. Farmhouse and chickens, however remained unchanged.
Several new facilities were added in the farm. On the top right sheep were removed and replaced by parking , camping field and solar panels. There were two parking areas one is near the farm shop and other is opposite of solar panels. Holiday cottages was installed in the center of the farm on the right side and replaced by barn.
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 student attempts to address the task by comparing the two maps of Beechwood farm, providing an overview in the second paragraph noting major changes such as the removal of sheep and the addition of new facilities. Key features are selected and reported, such as the retention of the farmhouse, soft fruits, and vegetables, alongside the new additions like the camping field and solar panels. However, there are some inaccuracies and vague statements in the spatial descriptions, such as stating that 'farm shops were created in it' regarding the main road. The overview is present, but overall development lacks complete precision across all locations. Therefore, the response corresponds to Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs focusing on different areas of the maps. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'However', and 'On the top right'. However, referencing and paragraph flow are occasionally awkward or mechanical, such as the abrupt transitions between sentences describing different structures. Paragraphing is used generally well to separate the overview from the specific details, but the logical progression within the body paragraphs occasionally falters, placing this aspect of the writing at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing topic-specific terms like 'layout', 'facilities', 'solar panels', and 'holiday cottages'. However, there are several word choice errors, incorrect plurals, and awkward phrasing, such as 'a beechwood farm' (lowercase, article misuse), 'a farm shops' (plural/article mismatch), and 'fruits stayed in the same position' instead of fruit trees. Less common lexical items are attempted, but inaccuracies in collocation and word forms prevent a higher score, placing this safely in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The maps illustrate the layout...' and 'Several new facilities were introduced, including...'. There are noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout, including missing capitalization ('beechwood farm'), article errors ('a farm shops', 'in the farm'), and faulty passive structures ('Holiday cottages was installed' and 'replaced by barn'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a Band 6.0, making Band 5.5 a fair and accurate reflection of grammatical control.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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