Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-05
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)
There is a comparison drawn between two architecture of Porth Harbour in 2000 and today's structure.
Overall, the Porth Harbour in 2000 does not reflect a hotel, private beach and a separate showers and toilets.
In 2000, in northern side of harbour marina (private yachts) is constructed in place of fishing boats in today's harbour. In a same way, there are also some changes in eastern side of today's harbour as it contains a hotel instead of castle which is shown in 2000 harbour structure and a private beach instead of public as shown in previous harbour back in 2000.
Furthermore, showers and toilets on western side of current harbour is also added separately as only car parking can be seen in 2000.
Remaining sections are same in both harbour including dock, lifeboat, a long road, fishing boats and car parking.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which negatively impacts the score. While the main features of the harbour are identified, the description is somewhat mechanical and lacks a clear, analytical overview. The summary of changes is present, but the development is limited due to the brevity of the text. To improve, ensure that you provide a more detailed comparison of the specific changes and reach the required length to allow for a full development of the task requirements.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into a brief introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat disjointed. While some cohesive devices are used, such as 'In a same way' and 'Furthermore', they are occasionally used inaccurately or sound unnatural. The paragraphing is present but the overall flow could be improved by using more sophisticated linking phrases to connect the comparisons between the two time periods more fluidly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and range expected at higher bands. Phrases like 'two architecture of Porth Harbour' are grammatically incorrect and imprecise. There is some repetition of basic terms like 'harbour' and 'structure'. To achieve a higher score, you should aim to use more varied and precise vocabulary related to maps and urban development, such as 'transformed', 'replaced by', 'converted into', or 'redeveloped'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'does not reflect a hotel' (which is semantically confusing), 'in northern side' (missing article), and 'In a same way' (incorrect article usage). These errors are noticeable and occasionally impede the clarity of the message. Increasing the variety of sentence structures while focusing on accurate article usage and prepositional phrases would significantly improve the quality of the writing.
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.