Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-02

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 plans display the Beechwood farm in 1950 and the same site today.

Overall, it can be seen that there were new developments on the farm site today. The area, where sheep can be seen in 1950 has transformed today and have some new developments. The river and some other agricultural produce sites remained unchanged. The track has been transformed into a road on the farm site today.

In the year 1950, there was no farm shop next to the fruit trees, which can be seen on the site today. The position of the barn has also changed since 1950, and there are holiday cottages now in place of barn. The area where sheep can be seen was not developed in 1950 and also track changed to road on the farm site today.

Beechwood farm, today has camping field and two parking areas which are near to road. Solar panels can also be seen opposite to the parking. Fruit trees, soft fruits, vegetables, chickens, farmhouse and the river remained same. There was no change in their position.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by comparing the two maps of Beechwood farm, selecting main features such as the new farm shop, camping field, and solar panels, and noting what remained unchanged. However, some ideas are under-developed or repetitive. For instance, the mention that the area where sheep can be seen in 1950 has transformed is repeated in multiple paragraphs without providing sufficient detail about the specific new additions like the holiday cottages or parking areas in that exact zone. A clearer selection and grouping of features would elevate the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the comparison across paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes faulty and mechanical. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, relying heavily on phrases like 'today', 'can be seen', and 'there was no change'. Furthermore, referencing and paragraphing lack seamless logical flow, as information regarding changes and unchanged features is scattered rather than grouped topically. To improve, the writer needs to use a wider variety of cohesive links and organise the body paragraphs more logically, such as contrasting buildings versus agricultural zones.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to maps and farming such as 'developments', 'agricultural produce', and 'position'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but some word choices and phrasing are repetitive or slightly imprecise, such as 'produce sites' instead of 'agricultural areas' or 'areas of production'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the overall lexical range remains somewhat limited and basic, preventing the achievement of a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as missing articles ('the Beechwood farm', 'has camping field') and subject-verb agreement issues ('the area... have some new developments'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions without major difficulty.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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