Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The diagram below shows a town square and surrounding area in 2014 and the plans for development of the area to be completed by 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The diagram illustrate a certain town square and area covering it in 2014 and the future development plans for it, to be completed by 2020.

Overall, the major changes are to be made inside of the square and to modernize it by 2020s stanadards, al though the tranformation still happens revolve around the fountain. There are few additions for children's activity and seating arrangement inside the square, whilst the restaurents seems to be recolated outside in near future.

firstly, majority of the changes are in the center of the square where the bandstand will be completely removed, and plant beds will be placed in place of Bandstand and extedning to far left, apart from the that new additions like covered seats on both left and right side are also to be added, additionally a play ground right infront of the covered seats on the right as well.

secondly, Fish market is to be replaced by a Super market whereas the townhall remains in the same area, the History mueseum will now be a local artist's gallery with a library having no place in the development plan and the admin buildings will be converted into small shops and the bar will now be relocated outside of the town square.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate attempts to cover the main features of the town square maps from 2014 to 2020. An overview is provided, noting the modernization and key shifts around the fountain, such as the additions of a children's playground, covered seating, and relocated restaurants. However, there are some inaccuracies and omissions in reporting specific spatial changes; for instance, the library is omitted from the body details despite being on the original map, and the description of the plant beds and bandstand is slightly confused. The response adequately highlights major transformations like the replacement of the fish market with a supermarket and the administrative buildings with shops, placing it comfortably in Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction and an overview, followed by two body paragraphs detailing the changes. Progression is generally logical, moving from central features to surrounding buildings. Cohesive devices such as 'firstly', 'secondly', 'whereas', and 'whilst' are used to structure the text, though punctuation around them is occasionally faulty (e.g., missing capitals and commas). Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas could be sharper. Reference words are mostly clear, contributing to a coherent overall arrangement that meets the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for describing a visual diagram, employing terms such as 'modernize', 'relocated', 'replaced', and 'converted'. There are attempts at less common vocabulary, but some lexical errors and incorrect collocations occur, such as 'stanadards' (standards), 'tranformation', 'revolve around' (revolve around the fountain should be anchored spatially), and spelling mistakes like 'mueseum' and 'extedning'. Additionally, some words are misused or misspelled. The range is sufficient to communicate the main points, but errors in word form and spelling prevent a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and concessive clauses ('whilst the restaurents seems to be recolated...'). However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The diagram illustrate', 'restaurents seems'), spelling errors ('stanadards', 'extedning', 'play ground', 'townhall'), and run-on structures lacking proper punctuation. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the writing from achieving a Band 6.0, as error-free sentences are in the minority.

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

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