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 given maps show the plans of Beechwood Farm in 1950 and today. If we closely examine the plans, we see developments in many areas of a farm like construction of roads, designated parking areas, instalation of solar panels, cottages and shops. The sheep grazing field has shrinked to camping field in todays plan. The farm now has an improved infrastructure and has looked economically furbished. Addition of Solar panels, parking lots, camping sites and holiday cottages will give boast to tourism and will take a vital part in improving the farm's economy. The construction of roads will improve living standards of people living there. These developments will attract investors, tourists and traders to Beechwood farm and will make the farm grow and prosperous. The holiday cottages will make it easy for tourist to do staycation and they will enjoy natural fruits and vegetables. This will create sources of income for the people of Beechwood farm.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response makes a basic attempt to describe the overall changes between the 1950 map and the current plan, noting features such as roads, parking, solar panels, and cottages. However, the evaluation sits at this level because the coverage is limited and mechanical. Important map comparisons—such as the transformation of the sheep area into a camping field, the addition of the farm shop, and the specific retention of fruit trees, vegetables, and the farmhouse—are only cursorily mentioned. Furthermore, a significant portion of the text shifts away from objective data reporting into unsupported speculation, such as predicting that the developments will 'take a vital part in improving the farm's economy' and 'attract investors, tourists and traders.' For a higher band, the description needs to focus strictly on factual visual data comparison rather than personal commentary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, presented as a single solid block of text which disrupts the logical flow of information. While there is a basic chronological attempt starting with 'The given maps show' and transitioning to today's plan, the overall arrangement lacks clear progression. Cohesive devices are minimal or repetitive; for instance, the writer repeatedly relies on demonstratives like 'these developments' or 'the farm' without smooth lexical chaining or varied signposts. Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow a structured, well-signposted comparison between the past and present layouts. To improve, the writer must divide the response into distinct paragraphs (such as an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for past and present features) and use a wider variety of cohesive markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication, but it contains notable lexical errors and spelling mistakes that prevent it from reaching a higher level. For example, the student writes 'instalation' (spelling error) and 'shrinked' (incorrect form of the irregular verb 'shrank' or 'shrunk'), and uses awkward collocations such as 'economically furbished' and 'give boast to tourism' (intended as 'boost'). While there are attempts to use less common words like 'infrastructure', 'investors', and 'staycation', the imprecision in word choice and spelling inaccuracies mean vocabulary control remains limited. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate more precise use of geographical and descriptive vocabulary without relying on misspelt words or unnatural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and conditional structures such as 'If we closely examine the plans, we see developments...'. There are some successful error-free sentences, and punctuation is generally manageable. However, grammatical errors persist throughout the response, including missing articles (e.g., 'a farm like construction' should include articles or be restructured), preposition errors (e.g., 'taking a vital part in' instead of 'playing a vital part in'), and subject-verb agreement slips. Because these errors do not severely impede overall comprehension and a mixture of structures is attempted, the grammar sits securely in the middle range. To improve further, the writer should focus on mastering article usage, fixed prepositional collocations, and eliminating minor structural slips.

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

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