Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-22
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The plans below show a public park when it first opened in 1920 and the same park today.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The plans demonstrates the two structures of a public park when it first opened in 1920 and the same park today.
Overall, the significant changes has occured in a public park. The fountain, pond for water plants, glass house and stage for musicians are replaced. The entrance gate remains the same as before while entrance underground car park is also available now. The seats position has been changed and cafe is added to the new park.
There used to be fountain in the center of the park which is replaced by rose garden now and the seats are kept around the rose garden. The rose garden in the top-left corner remains same while top-right corner rose garden is converted into a new cafe. Beside that, there used to be a pond for water plants that has been replaced by the area for children to play. The glass house has been removed. Watwe feature is constructed and there is also the facility of underground car park for the visitors. The entrane gate remains the same as before.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The candidate successfully addresses the main features of the two park maps, noting key transformations such as the removal of the fountain, glasshouse, and stage, and the addition of the café, amphitheatre, and underground car park. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the general shift. However, some specific locations and details are slightly under-developed or missing (for example, the specific placement of the amphitheatre is omitted), and there are minor inaccuracies in reporting precise locations. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are covered satisfactorily, earning a solid Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement, moving from an introductory statement to an overview, followed by specific details in the final paragraph. Paragraphing is attempted, though the final paragraph is somewhat dense and blends multiple separate changes together ('There used to be fountain... Watwe feature is constructed...'). Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'remains the same as before', 'replaced by'). Reference words are generally clear, but the logical progression within the body paragraph could be smoother with more varied cohesive links. This aligns with Band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully employing topic-specific terms such as 'fountain', 'glass house', 'stage for musicians', and 'underground car park'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('Watwe' instead of Water, 'entrane' instead of entrance, 'occured' instead of occurred) and some awkward word choices ('The plans demonstrates', 'The seats position'). Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision and stylistic polish. The range is sufficient to communicate the main points but shows recurring slips, fitting Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures (e.g., relative clauses and passive constructions like 'which is replaced by rose garden now'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The plans demonstrates', 'significant changes has occured', 'The seats position'), missing articles ('used to be fountain'), and punctuation slips. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they occur regularly enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 6.5, placing it firmly at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.