Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-13

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 first diagram illustrates the condition of a town square and surrounding area in 2014, while the second layout represents the development plans of the area to be completed by 2020.

Overall, the town square had undergoes significant changes, while some figures had remained unchanged. However, several new changes had been

happened and many facilities had been added into it. In addition, few specific areas had been expanded.

To begin with, in 2014, the town had a fountain in the center and several buildings and markets were present in its surrounding such as a fish market and a town hall was in the north direction, a history museum was in the north west side of the fountain, an administrative building located in the eastern, a library situated in the south west direction of the town, while a bar and a fish restaurant located in the south side of the town.

Meanwhile, in 2020, many changes had occurred. Some new figures had been introduced in the town, such as a plants bed, new shops on the place of administrative building and a children's playground near the fountain. However, some figures had been replaced with new one such as history museum had been replaced with local artists' gallery. Whilst, some figures remained unchanged such as town hall, bar and restaurants.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two time points and give a general overview that the square changes while some features remain. You also report several relevant developments, including the supermarket replacing the fish market, shops replacing the administrative buildings, and the gallery replacing the museum. However, coverage is partial and some details are inaccurate: the museum was on the western side, not north-west of the fountain, and the library was also on the west, not south-west. The town hall was in the north-east, rather than simply “in the north direction.” Important changes such as the covered seating, the playground’s position, and the plant beds are only briefly or incompletely described, while the claim that the bar remained unchanged is not clearly supported by the plan. Select the main changes more precisely and compare locations consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the two years. This gives the reader a basic route through the information, and phrases such as “To begin with” and “Meanwhile” signal transitions. However, progression within the paragraphs is uneven. The 2014 sentence strings together many locations with commas and “while,” making the relationships difficult to follow; the 2020 paragraph then lists changes without a clear order or grouping. “However” and “Whilst” do not always introduce a clear contrast, and “some figures” is an unclear reference. Organise details by area or by what stayed and what changed, and use linking expressions only when their logical relationship is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “fountain,” “town hall,” “administrative building,” and “children’s playground,” so the reader can identify several features. However, the range is limited and some wording is repetitive or imprecise: “figures” is used for facilities, and “new changes” and “some new figures” do not describe the developments accurately. There are also noticeable collocation and word-form problems, such as “plants bed,” “on the place of,” and “had been happened.” These choices sometimes make the description less clear, even though the general topic remains understandable. Use specific nouns such as “facilities,” “buildings,” and “features,” and learn natural phrases for replacement and location.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a long sentence describing the 2014 layout and clauses beginning “while” and “such as.” However, complex structures are often faulty, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “had undergoes” combines an incorrect verb form with an unnecessary past perfect, while “had been happened” uses an incorrect passive construction. There are also agreement and article problems in “a plants bed” and “new one,” and the sentence about the fish market and town hall has an unclear structure. Use the past simple for the 2014 description and the future or planned form for the 2020 layout, and check subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries.

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