Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-14

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 illustrate a plan of a farm in 1950 and same plan today.

Overall, there are several changes in today's farm plan as compared to 1950's plan. In today's plan there are more things which are added in 1950's plan while, serval things are repurposed. There is only one thing which is removed in today's plan that is there in 1950's plan.

In today's plan, the sheep area is removed from 1950's plan while, it is repurposed into camping field, solar panels and two parkings. A farm shop is added in fruit trees area adjacent to road opposite to parking area. The track is upgraded to road from where all facilities are accesible.

In the bottom right of today's plan holiday cottages is added which was used to be barn and the barn is shifted to new place beside chickens on the junction of road and the area is comparity less as before. There are several things in today's plan which remains the same as 1950's plan like, fruit trees, soft friuts, vegetables, farmhouse and chickens.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main transformation from a sheep area to new uses, and note that the farm shop, road access, holiday cottages and relocated barn are among the changes. You also correctly recognise that the fruit trees, soft-fruit and vegetable plots, farmhouse and chicken area remain. This covers the key comparison and gives a clear overall impression. Some details, however, are unclear or inaccurate: the shop is between the fruit trees and internal road, rather than simply “in fruit trees area,” and the barn is south-west of the farmhouse at the road junction, not beside the chickens. The overview also says only one feature was removed, although the sheep area is replaced by several uses. More precise location descriptions and a clearer account of the major changes would complete the summary more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes and features that remain. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the comparison. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several changes are packed into long sentences, and the order shifts between areas of the map. Linking phrases such as “while” and “like” are used, but some connections are awkward or unclear—for example, “while, serval things are repurposed” and the sentence about the barn being “shifted to new place.” Organise the details by location or by unchanged versus changed features, and use clearer references to connect each feature to its former and current position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “repurposed,” “adjacent,” “accessible,” and “junction,” and you attempt to distinguish additions, removals and unchanged features. However, the range and control are limited by repeated general words such as “things” and “plan,” as well as imprecise or unnatural combinations such as “two parkings” and “the area is comparity less.” Spelling errors—including “serval,” “accesible,” and “friuts”—also make the description less polished. Choose precise terms for map features and use natural collocations; for example, refer to “two parking areas” and describe the barn as being “relocated to a smaller site.” This would make the comparisons clearer and more accurate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences with clauses, such as “In today’s plan, the sheep area is removed … while…” This shows some range, but complex sentences are not consistently controlled, and errors sometimes make relationships between features difficult to interpret. Examples include “the same plan today” (missing article), “which was used to be barn” (incorrect verb construction), and “There are several things … which remains” (subject–verb agreement). The sentence beginning “In today’s plan there are more things…” also has an unclear comparison and awkward clause structure. Practise accurate past-to-present comparisons, articles, agreement and clause punctuation, while keeping longer sentences focused on one clear comparison.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.