Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 porth harbour changed between 2000 ans the present day.

Overall, castle is converted into hotel on the south-east side. Dock is divided into 2 parthways. Cafes and shops are added on the south west area.

in 2000, there were 2 public beach one omnm the north side and other on the south west side. Dock and passenger ferries on the northen area. Futhermore on rrthw west side there was a showers and toilets and car park. The main road is divided into car park and other reached the lifeboat area, There was a castle on the south.

In present day there are lots of changes. oublic beach is convered into private beach on the south east area for the hotel use. Moverover, fishing boats and marina is switched from the orginal position. There is one mpre addition of showers and toilets on the south west area. in constract enlargement of road which reaches till the hotel. Lastly, oassenger ferries remain unchanged.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the castle becoming a hotel, the marina and fishing-boat areas switching locations, and the southern beach becoming private. These are relevant features, and the overview gives the reader a general sense of the harbour’s redevelopment. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the dock is not simply “divided into 2 pathways”; today it has an additional jetty and two boats. The statement that the “main road is divided into car park” does not clearly describe the layout, and the response omits notable additions such as cafés and shops beside the lifeboat station. Develop the overview around the main changes and describe locations more precisely to make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening, an overview, a paragraph about 2000, and one about the present day. This gives the information a broadly coherent arrangement. You also use time markers such as “in 2000” and “in present day” to distinguish the two maps. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in “The main road is divided into car park and other reached the lifeboat area,” where the relationship between features is unclear. Some linking words, including “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “Lastly,” feel mechanical and do not always clarify how details relate. Group changes by location or type, and use clearer references to connect the two maps.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “public beach,” “lifeboat,” “marina,” and “private beach,” and you attempt to describe change with phrases such as “converted into” and “switched.” This provides a basic range for reporting the map. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, for example “parthways,” “northen,” “convered,” and “orginal,” and several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, such as “one more addition of showers and toilets” and “in constract enlargement of road.” These choices sometimes make the intended feature or change harder to understand. Build a more accurate set of map-description phrases and check spelling carefully, especially for key labels and directional terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the response generally communicates a comparison between the two time periods. However, control of sentence structure and grammatical forms is uneven. For example, “castle is converted into hotel” needs articles and a suitable past participle construction, while “fishing boats and marina is switched” has a subject–verb agreement error and an unclear plural structure. Tense also shifts between “there were” and “the main road is divided” when describing the 2000 map. Some sentences lack clear grammatical connections, which affects readability. Use consistent past tense for the earlier plan and present tense for today, and check articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries.

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