Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-13
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 map compares the university's sports centre presently and how it would appear after significant development.
Overall, many significant developments will be made including leisure pool,sports hall changing rroms .However,pool and reception area will be same as now.
Curently, the university sports centre has outdoors courts loacted on east and west side .In center there lies the 25m pool with changing rrom on west side and seating rrom on the east side. Reception is located on the south side of the centre whereas gym occupies the north end of the sports centre.
In future, outdoor courts on both end will be replaced by the leisure pool on west side and sports hall on the east side of the sports centre.Dancing studios will be situated along the east wall and changing room will be lying just below them with attached cafe on left end.Seating area will be introduce between pool and sports hall.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully identifies the main features of the current sports centre and the proposed future layout. The overview mentions key changes, such as the introduction of a leisure pool and sports hall, alongside elements that remain unchanged, like the existing pool and reception area. Key comparisons are made between the present outdoor courts and the future facilities. However, some minor details are missed or slightly imprecise, such as specific locations of the dancing studios and seating areas. Overall, the response effectively covers all parts of the task and is well-supported by data from the visual prompts, aligning well with the Band 6.5 to 7.0 requirements. A Band 6.0 is appropriate as some aspects are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in feature selection.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a clear overall arrangement with an introductory paragraph, an overview, a body paragraph describing the current layout, and a final paragraph detailing future changes. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions between the present and future, such as 'Currently' and 'In future'. However, paragraphing is somewhat basic and cohesion is occasionally mechanical or faulty, seen in minor referencing issues and a lack of smooth flow between sentences. For instance, the transition from the overview directly into spatial descriptions feels abrupt. There are also typographical errors like missing spaces and punctuation issues that affect readability. Therefore, the response fits the Band 6 descriptor well.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map task, including terms like 'redevelopment', 'reception area', 'outdoor courts', and 'changing room'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'rrom' instead of 'room', 'Curently' instead of 'Currently', and 'loacted' instead of 'located'. Phrases like 'seating area will be introduce' display grammatical inflections errors rather than purely lexical ones, but lexical slips like 'left end' instead of 'west wing' or similar show limited precision. These errors do not seriously impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The map compares the university's sports centre presently and how it would appear after significant development.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding missing articles ('on east and west side', 'In center', 'Reception', 'gym', 'Seating area will be introduce'), preposition misuse ('on east and west side' instead of 'the'), and spelling/typographical slips ('rrom', 'Curently', 'loacted'). While complex structures are attempted, errors in verb forms and passive voice constructions ('will be introduce') are noticeable. These errors occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader, matching the Band 5.5 criteria.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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