Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-03

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The two maps below show road access to a city hospital in 2007 and 2010.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons wherever relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The provided two maps depict the road towards a city hospital in the years 2007 and 2010.

Overall, it can be seen that the road had been undergone some significant changes, by extending the road for constructing new features and facilities.

Looking at the 2007 layout, the central portion was occupied by a city hospital surrounded by the ring road. In the southern side, down to it there was a hospital RD, which was known as bus stop. Where staff as well as public used to park their cars, the city road was constructed down the bus stop.

Looking at the 2010 layout, some changes had been implemented around the city road. Although the area of city hospital remain unchanged, down the southern part between hospital RD, two new roundabout had been established. Also a new bus station and staff car park had been built on either side of the hospital RD, while for public, the car park area had been combined in the east side of a city hospital. Finally, the space for city road was shortened.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features of the maps, such as the addition of roundabouts, the new bus station, and the changes to car parking. You also provided a clear overview. However, the description of the road changes is slightly inaccurate; you mentioned the road was 'shortened', whereas the map shows the removal of the city road access from the east. Additionally, some spatial descriptions are vague, such as 'down to it' or 'down the southern part', which makes it difficult for the reader to visualize the exact layout changes. To improve, focus on using more precise directional language (e.g., 'to the south-east of the hospital').

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs covering the two time periods. You use some cohesive devices like 'Although', 'Also', and 'Finally' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and repetitive sentence structures. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when describing the location of the new car parks. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that pronouns clearly refer back to their antecedents would help the text flow more naturally and improve the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the maps, using terms like 'layout', 'implemented', 'roundabout', and 'facilities'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'the road had been undergone' (should be 'had undergone') and 'the city road was shortened' (which does not accurately reflect the visual evidence of the road being removed). To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise verbs and nouns related to map descriptions, such as 'demolished', 'constructed', 'relocated', or 'expanded'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'the road had been undergone' (passive voice error), 'two new roundabout' (pluralization error), and 'the area of city hospital remain unchanged' (subject-verb agreement error). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding your main points, they occur frequently enough to impact the overall accuracy of the writing. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage will significantly improve your score.

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

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