Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-09

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 5.0)

The label diagram provides information of Porth harbour that how it was in 2000 and what are differences now.

Overall, this plan illustrates the changes occurs over the last 26 years. There are no changes seen on North and East side of the harbour, while on West and South direction different variations occured.

Both the plans have docks for passenger ferries and sea on north.The east side has sea. While in center some transformatins occurs, conversion of unused castle from 2000 to hotel now . A road is also constructed in front of hotel .

The main changes occurs in west and south of the harbour. In west some shops were swaped while on south Private beach for hotel

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the two time points and mention some relevant changes, especially the disused castle becoming a hotel and the southern beach becoming private. However, the response addresses the task only partially: it omits major changes such as the marina and fishing-boat areas switching locations, the added facilities and cafés/shops, and the extra jetty. The overview is also inaccurate when it says there are no changes on the north and east sides, since the northern dock arrangement changes and fishing boats move there. The statement that a road was constructed in front of the hotel is not supported by the plans; a road is already shown in 2000. The response is 119 words, below the required 150, which further limits the detail reported. Develop a fuller, accurate comparison of the main features.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two short sections describing features. This gives the reader some sense of progression, and phrases such as “Overall” and “The main changes” help signal the purpose of each part. However, the final paragraph is incomplete, and the ideas within paragraphs are not always connected clearly. For example, “Both the plans have docks for passenger ferries and sea on north” is followed by a fragment beginning “The east side has sea,” while “While in center…” does not form a complete sentence. The reference to changes in the west is also unclear. Use complete sentences and group changes by location or feature, with clear links between the 2000 and present-day layouts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “harbour,” “docks,” “passenger ferries,” “castle,” and “private beach,” so the reader can identify several features. However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations make the description unclear. “The label diagram” is not a natural way to introduce a map, and “different variations” is vague and repetitive. “Some shops were swaped” does not accurately describe the plan: cafés and shops are added, rather than swapped. There are also spelling errors, including “transformatins,” “occured,” and “swaped.” Build a more precise set of verbs for map changes, such as “relocated,” “replaced,” “added,” and “remained,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a few different sentence forms, including an overview and a comparison, but the range is limited and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences difficult to follow. For example, “provides information of Porth harbour that how it was” has an incorrect clause structure, while “the changes occurs” and “different variations occured” show problems with verb forms and agreement. The sentence “While in center some transformatins occurs” is incomplete, and “Both the plans have docks for passenger ferries and sea on north” has unclear grammatical relationships between its elements. Articles and prepositions are also missing or awkward in phrases such as “on North” and “in center.” Practise accurate simple sentences first, then combine them using clauses such as “whereas” and “while.”

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