Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-29

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 plans shows te site of a farm in 1950 and the same site today and it is named as Beechwood farm. The difference is discribed below.

To begin with, as we see the beechwood farm in 1950 in which there is a simple mud track but now it have a great road. When we enter at the farm from the highway side and in the entrance we see large fruit trees at right side and after that there are soft fruits and vegetables beside them but when we see today, a little change in these is there is a Farm shop at the right side of the entrance from highway side in fruit trees. There is also a big noticeable difference which is the left side of the beechwood farm which was totally coverd with sheeps in 1950 but today there are two parkings, one at the highway entrance and one at opposite side and there is also a camping field and Large number of solar panels at left corner and at the right corner there is not much changed just Barn is replaced with holiday cottages.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two time periods and report several relevant changes, including the new farm shop, parking areas, camping field and solar panels. However, the comparison is only partial and some details are inaccurate or unclear. The 1950 plan shows sheep north of the track, while the present-day plan places the camping field and solar panels in that area; describing the sheep as covering the farm’s “left side” is misleading. You also say the barn was replaced by holiday cottages, although the barn remains and the cottages are added nearby. The overview is vague (“The difference is described below”), and important changes such as the internal road and the farmhouse area are not clearly summarised. Select the main transformations and describe their locations precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic sequence from the 1950 layout to the present day, and phrases such as “To begin with” and “but when we see today” signal comparison. However, the response is presented as two long paragraphs with little clear separation between an overview and specific details. The second paragraph combines several locations and changes in one extended sentence, making relationships difficult to follow; for example, the description moves from the entrance to the fields, then to the sheep and parking without a consistent spatial route. Some linking is repetitive, particularly the repeated use of “and” and “but.” Organise the report into a brief overview followed by grouped comparisons, such as land use and buildings, and use clearer sentence boundaries.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “fruit trees,” “soft fruits,” “camping field” and “solar panels,” which helps convey the map’s features. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or unnatural, such as “great road,” “large fruit trees” and “a big noticeable difference.” Spelling errors, including “discribed” and “coverd,” also reduce accuracy. “Parkings” is not the natural plural form in this context; use “parking areas” or “car parks.” Aim for precise map language such as “located,” “converted,” “added” and “remained,” and avoid evaluative descriptions like “great” when reporting a plan.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts longer sentences and uses some time contrasts, but complex structures are often faulty, and errors sometimes make the intended relationships harder to understand. For example, “The given plans shows” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “now it have a great road” has incorrect agreement and tense. Articles and sentence construction are also problematic in “in which there is a simple mud track” and “a little change in these is there is a Farm shop.” Several ideas are joined into run-on sentences with repeated “and,” and punctuation does not consistently mark sentence boundaries. Practise accurate simple comparisons first, then combine them using controlled clauses, for example: “In 1950, the track served the farm; today, it has been replaced by a road.”

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