Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-12

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 proposed layout illustrates revised plans of a site called beechwood farm with a before and after picture of the farm.At a glance,the major transformation is going to take place in the sheep field and some minor changes near the food trees and road divider.

Overall,it is clear that,the majority of the sheep field is going to be occupied with plenty of other placements such as two parking areas at two corners,two camping fields and four solar panels.Furthermore,there will be a farm shop which is going to be constructed near the fruit trees.In 1950, when the beechwood farm used to have the barn on the western side is going to be replaced with holiday cottages and will be placed on the southern part of the farm where three road tracks got connected.However,the location of fruit trees,soft fruits,vegetables and where the poultry section and the farmhouse was positioned remains unchanged.

In conclusion,the map of the offered redevelopmental plans of beechwood farm is going to be highly concentrated on the sheep field rather than any other places of the farm.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change as the redevelopment of the former sheep field and give an overview of new facilities, including parking, a farm shop and solar panels. You also correctly note that the fruit trees, soft fruits, vegetables, farmhouse and chicken area remain in their original locations. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the plan shows one camping field, not “two camping fields,” and the barn is not replaced by the holiday cottages; the cottages are added south of the eastern road, while the barn remains, relocated to the south-west of the farmhouse. The overview also misses important changes to the road layout and the new cottages. Select the main changes more precisely and explain their locations to make the comparison fuller and clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall structure, moving from an introduction to a broad overview and then to comparisons, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore” and “However” help signal relationships. The main points are generally grouped together, so the reader can follow the intended contrast between the old and new plans. However, the long second paragraph combines several changes in a way that makes relationships difficult to track, particularly the sentence about the barn and holiday cottages. The final “In conclusion” largely repeats the overview rather than adding a distinct summary. Use separate, clearly focused paragraphs for the overall changes and for retained versus relocated features, and make references such as “where three road tracks got connected” more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic-related vocabulary, including “occupied,” “parking areas,” “solar panels,” “farm shop” and “holiday cottages,” which helps describe the redevelopment. There are also attempts at less common wording, such as “transformation” and “redevelopmental plans.” However, several choices are unnatural or imprecise for a map description: “food trees” should be “fruit trees,” “road divider” does not clearly describe the internal roads, and “plenty of other placements” is vague. “Offered redevelopmental plans” is also an awkward collocation. Prefer precise labels from the map and natural terms such as “facilities,” “road layout” and “proposed redevelopment.” This would make the description more accurate and fluent without requiring more elaborate vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex forms, including a relative clause in “where three road tracks got connected” and a contrast introduced by “However.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems reduce clarity. For example, “the majority of the sheep field … is going to be occupied” is followed by a list whose relationship to the field is not clearly expressed, and “In 1950, when the beechwood farm used to have the barn … is going to be replaced” mixes past and future structures in an incomplete construction. The opening also runs sentences together after “farm” and “glance.” Use consistent past and present tenses for the two maps, and divide long sentences into complete, clearly punctuated clauses.

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