Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-08

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)

Diagrams illustrate the changes on the same site of a farmland in 1950 and today.

Overall, the beechwood farm shows the changes made at today and on the same site of a farm. There is a biggest change of solar panels, parking and camping field.

In 1950, fruit trees were built in the west side next to soft fruits and adjacent to vegetables. Chickens were built in the south side along with the river. Sheep were built in the north side opposite to barn and track.

Today, there are many changes made in the north side of sheep. Sheep has been modernized into parking, camping field and solar panels. In parking trees were upgraded. Fruit trees have been renovated to farm shops. Barn has also added in the south side next to vegetables along with river. Farmhouses and holiday cottages have been established on the east side of farm.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two time periods and mention several relevant changes, including the arrival of parking, a camping field and solar panels. However, the overview is unclear and does not accurately summarise the main transformation: the farm has diversified, while some agricultural areas and the farmhouse and chicken enclosure remain. Several details are misreported. The fruit trees were not replaced by a farm shop; the shop is a new feature beside them. The barn was already present in 1950, and the sheep area became a camping field and solar panels as well as parking, rather than being wholly converted to these uses. The response also falls one word short of the required minimum. A more accurate overview and clearer comparisons would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and separate descriptions of the earlier and current plans. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is limited because the paragraphs list features without consistently comparing their locations or explaining what changed. For example, the final paragraph moves from the former sheep area to parking, then to fruit trees and the barn, without a clear spatial sequence. Repeated wording such as “Today” and “on the same site” also makes the links feel mechanical. Organise details by area or by retained and newly added features, and use clear references such as “in contrast” and “while” to connect comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “adjacent,” “opposite,” “established” and “solar panels,” and the reader can generally identify the features you mean. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate. “Fruit trees were built” and “Chickens were built” do not describe these features naturally; use “were located” or “were kept.” “Fruit trees have been renovated to farm shops” also gives the wrong relationship and uses “renovated” inappropriately. Repetition of “changes,” “side” and “made” further limits precision. Choose verbs that distinguish construction, retention and conversion, and use accurate labels such as “farm shop” and “parking area” to report the plan clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the longer sentence about the sheep area. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure, tense and agreement sometimes make relationships unclear. For example, “There is a biggest change” has an incorrect article and superlative form, while “Sheep has been modernized” has subject–verb agreement and tense problems. The phrase “Barn has also added” is missing a passive verb form, and “Fruit trees were built in the west side” has an awkward grammatical pattern. Practise accurate past and present passive forms for map changes, and check articles, plural subjects and prepositions. Shorter, well-controlled comparisons would improve clarity.

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