Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-30

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 5.0)

The maps illustrate the layout of a town square and its surrounding area in 2014, as well as the proposed changes that were planned to be completed by 2020.

Overall, the area was expected to undergo significant redevelopment. The main changes involved the construction of new residential and commercial facilities, the introduction of a pedestrianised area, and improvements to the road system.

In 2014, the town square was located in the centre of the area, with roads running around it. There were shops on the eastern side of the square, while a café was situated to the west. A car park was located in the north-western part of the area, and a library stood in the south-west. There were also several trees around the square.

By 2020, the town square was planned to become a pedestrian-only area, with the surrounding roads being reorganised. The shops on the eastern side were to be replaced or extended with new commercial buildings. A new underground car park was also planned in the northern part of the area. In addition, new residential buildings were proposed, particularly around the western and southern sides.

Another major change was the improvement of pedestrian access. New pedestrian paths were planned around the square, making the central area more convenient for people. Overall, the development plan aimed to make the town centre more modern, accessible and suitable for both residents and businesses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The student attempts to describe the changes shown in the maps, but unfortunately misinterprets almost all of the visual data. The source diagrams depict a town square featuring a fish market, town hall, museum, administrative buildings, and bandstand in 2014, and a supermarket, local artists' gallery, plant beds, playground, and bars/restaurants in 2020. However, the student's text invents entirely different features that are completely absent from the prompt, such as 'residential facilities', 'a car park', 'a café', and 'trees'. Furthermore, the student fails to report the actual main features shown in the diagrams. Because the response is built on completely inaccurate data and hallucinated details, it fails to fulfill the core requirements of Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Despite the severe data inaccuracies, the response exhibits basic organizational structure. The essay is divided into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then attempting to describe the '2014' and '2020' states sequentially. Cohesive devices such as 'In 2014', 'By 2020', and 'Overall' are used to guide the reader through the text. However, referencing and logical progression are compromised because the narrative describes an imaginary town plan rather than the provided diagrams. Paragraphing is adequate, but cohesion feels somewhat mechanical due to the lack of genuine connection to the source material.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing spatial changes and urban development, utilizing terms such as 'redevelopment', 'pedestrianised area', 'commercial facilities', and 'underground car park'. However, because these lexical items are applied to incorrect features (e.g., inventing car parks and residential areas that do not exist on the map), the precision of vocabulary use is undermined. There are occasional spelling and word-choice limitations, but general communication is not impeded by lexical errors alone. To achieve a higher band, the vocabulary must accurately reflect the specific data presented in the visual prompt.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a satisfactory mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and passive structures reasonably well (e.g., 'The maps illustrate the layout...', 'the area was expected to undergo...', 'the shops on the eastern side were to be replaced'). There is good control over tense usage when describing past layouts and future plans ('was located', 'were planned to become'). While there are minor awkward phrasings, grammatical errors are infrequent and do not impede the reader's understanding. The main structural limitation lies in task fulfillment rather than grammatical control.

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

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