Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show a harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

 

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The map illustrates how much porth harnour has been changed from 2000 to today.

Overall, the new harbour look more tourist friendly place with multiple facilities. However, one more showers and toilets area build while the old castle change into hotel and marina and fishing boats locations swaped.

In 2000, the wetern part have two car parks and showers and toilets also marina and fishing boats located on that same side. Meanwhile, the lifeboat station located at the end of road followed by a sea. There were two public beaches first one at north part while the other one on south side. Moreover, one dock with passenger ferris parking facility at far north side whereas the disused castle at south-eastern corner of the harbour.

Today, the porth harbour had developed a lot, there are so many visitors facilities have build. New showers and toilets section construct along with car park and the fishing boat move toward north-west side and the previous area change into huge marina where private yachts are park. A new cafes and shops construct near life boat station. The old castle transformed into hotel for visitors and the southern beach renamed with private beach for hotel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main transformation clearly: the harbour becomes more visitor-oriented, the castle is replaced by a hotel, and the marina and fishing-boat areas switch locations. You also cover several relevant details from both maps, including the beaches, lifeboat station, and dock. This gives the response a clear overview and addresses the task. However, some details are inaccurate or imprecise: the fishing boats move to the northern dock basin, not specifically the “north-west side,” and the dock’s extra jetty and two berthed boats are omitted. The opening description of facilities is also broad, while changes to the car parks and showers are not fully explained. More precise comparisons of the harbour’s northern and southern areas would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph about 2000, and one about today. This makes the main time comparison easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “Moreover” help signal relationships between details. However, some connections are unclear or mechanical. For example, “the lifeboat station located at the end of road followed by a sea” does not clearly explain its position, and the overview combines several changes in a way that is difficult to parse. The final paragraph also lists developments without consistently grouping them by location. Use clearer spatial sequencing—north, south, then the central road area—and ensure each sentence links one change to its corresponding earlier feature.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “marina,” “lifeboat station,” “disused castle,” “public beach,” and “transformed into,” which helps communicate the main changes. There is also some variety in how you describe development. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “harnour,” “wetern,” “ferris,” and “swaped.” Several phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “visitors facilities,” “parking facility,” and “huge marina.” These choices sometimes make the description less clear, even though the general meaning is usually recoverable. Aim for accurate collocations and map-specific terms, such as “visitor facilities,” “passenger ferry dock,” and “the marina was relocated,” and proofread spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “Meanwhile” and a relative clause in “the southern beach renamed with private beach for hotel.” However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward or unclear. Examples include “the new harbour look,” “one more showers and toilets area build,” and “the fishing boat move toward.” These need forms such as “looks,” “another showers-and-toilets area was built,” and “the fishing boats moved.” Articles and prepositions are also missing in phrases such as “end of road” and “for hotel.” Practise accurate past-tense descriptions and passive forms for changes, while checking subject–verb agreement and article use.

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

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