Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-12
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 plans illustrate the current floor layout of a university's sports centre and how it will be after redevelopment.
Overall, expansion and modernization of univeristy sports centre will be observed with more facilities like eating and dancing offered. Outdoor section of sports center will be converted to indoor section without changing the enterance.
Starting from the entrance, it will be same as current one, moving to the left side, sports shop will be added with changing room attached. Changing room door will open into newly introduced leisure pool in place of outdoor court.
From the left of entrance, cafe plus another changing room will be added, Outdoor court will be replaced by sports hall with 2 dance studios on eastren wall side. Gym will be extended in eastren direction, length wise.
Reception, pool between changing room and seating area will remain same.
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
You identify the main change as expansion, noting that the outdoor courts become indoor facilities, and you mention several additions, including the leisure pool, sports shop, café, sports hall and dance studios. You also correctly state that the reception and central pool remain. However, some locations are unclear or inaccurate: the café and extra changing room are in the south-east, not simply “from the left of entrance,” and the gym extends eastward rather than being described as “in eastren direction, length wise.” The overview is also broad and does not clearly compare the two layouts. The response is 142 words, below the 150-word minimum. To strengthen coverage, describe the major changes by side and clarify which existing features stay in place.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview and details about the planned layout. Phrases such as “Starting from the entrance” and “moving to the left side” attempt to guide the reader through the plan. However, the progression is not consistently clear because the description shifts between directions and features without a stable organising principle. For example, “From the left of entrance” is difficult to reconcile with the previous sentence, and the final sentence introduces retained features after the new facilities have been described. Some linking is also mechanical. Organise the details by area—west, centre and east—or compare the present and future plans in sequence, using clear references to the compass directions.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “redevelopment,” “converted,” “replaced,” “extended” and “remain,” which helps communicate the main changes. The range is adequate but some choices are imprecise or unnatural, such as “eating and dancing offered” for the new café and dance studios, and “length wise” to describe the gym’s extension. There are also noticeable spelling errors in “univeristy,” “enterance” and “eastren,” which reduce accuracy. “Outdoor section” and “indoor section” are broad labels where naming the courts and facilities would be more precise. Aim for standard facility names and concise location phrases, such as “on the eastern side” or “a café is added in the south-east corner.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
You use a mixture of simple statements and longer structures, including “Outdoor section of sports center will be converted to indoor section without changing the enterance.” The main meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in articles, sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to make some relationships unclear. For instance, “Starting from the entrance, it will be same as current one” lacks an article and has an unclear subject, while “Reception, pool between changing room and seating area will remain same” omits several articles and a linking verb. The sentence beginning “From the left of entrance” is also awkwardly constructed. Practise complete sentences with clear subjects, and check articles and verb forms: for example, “The reception and 25-metre pool will remain in their current positions.”
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