Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-12
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The plans below show the layout of a university’s sports centre now, and how it will look after redevelopment.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The maps represent the existing and redeveloping sports centre of a university.
At present, the plan is quite simple with two outdoor courts to the east and west of the sports centre. The future layout of the sports centre shows that outdoor courts are expelled and several new facilities like dance studio to the east and cafe and sports shops are added to the south of the sports centre.
At present, there's a 25m rectangular pool at the centre of the sports centre, surrounded by the changing room to the west, gym to the north, seating to the east, reception and entrance to the south. Two outdoor courts are present to the east and west of the university's sports centre.
In future plans, the cente of the sports centre is representing a plan similar to the present plan, consist of pool, changing room, reception and seating. However, a sports hall is introduced to the east of the seating and two dance studios to the further east of the sports hall. Two changing rooms are added to the south west and south east corners of the sports centre. A leisure pool is planned to the west of the sports centre. A cafe to the east of the entrance and a sports shop to the west of the entrance are introduced. Whereas, two outdoor courts are removed from the layout of the sports centre.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully covers all parts of the task by comparing the present and future layouts of the university sports centre. Main features such as the central pool, changing rooms, seating, and reception are identified, alongside significant upcoming changes like the removal of outdoor courts, the addition of a leisure pool, dance studios, a cafe, and a sports shop. However, the selection of data could be more effectively summarised and structured into clearer overview trends rather than getting slightly bogged down in repetitive micro-details. For instance, the writer describes the central area twice across different paragraphs. Overall, the response addresses the prompt well, earning a solid Band 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical progression from the present layout to the future redevelopment plans. Paragraphing is attempted, with separate paragraphs dedicated to general overviews and specific spatial locations. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with repetitive phrasing like 'At present, the plan is...' and awkward transitional links such as 'Whereas, two outdoor courts are removed'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and paragraph boundaries could be better managed to group related spatial changes together. This places the response firmly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using spatial terms such as 'to the east and west', 'south-west and south-east corners', and specific facility names like 'reception', 'gym', and 'leisure pool'. There are, however, noticeable word-choice inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'outdoor courts are expelled' instead of removed or demolished, and 'the cente of the sports centre is representing a plan'. Spelling is generally accurate, but vocabulary choice lacks the precision and flexibility required for higher bands, resulting in a Band 6.0 score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and prepositional phrases (e.g., 'surrounded by the changing room to the west, gym to the north'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'the cente of the sports centre is representing a plan... consist of pool' (subject-verb agreement and tense issues) and 'In future plans'. Punctuation is generally functional, but the density of minor structural errors places this writing at Band 5.5, reflecting a limited control of complex structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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