Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-09
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 5.5)
The plans below show a harbour in 2000 and it's present day looks after several changes.
I have summarised the data by selecting and reporting the main features, and made comparisons where related.
Overall, several differences in the sketch are notable.The capacity at the dock is increased allowing more ships to stay. Various new things were introduced to boost the tourism.
The car park was moved the main road and the cafes and shops were introduced next to the life boat. The public beach was converted to private beach and a hotel was introduced beside it. The private beach meant to secure the privacy of tourist and the hotel provides a comfortable stay provided with beautiful view of sea. The public beach was shifted beside dock.Marina and fishing boat section exchanged their places with each other.
In conclusion, several useful changes were made which could change the future of the harbour by attracting more tourists.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the harbour plans, identifying key changes such as the expansion of the dock, the relocation of the car park, and the conversion of the beach. However, the response is somewhat descriptive rather than analytical. The inclusion of personal commentary, such as 'The private beach meant to secure the privacy of tourist', is unnecessary and detracts from the objective tone required for an Academic Task 1 report. While the main features are identified, the comparison between the two time periods could be more precise, and the overview is slightly simplistic. The response meets the minimum requirements but lacks the depth of analysis expected for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into an introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited and occasionally repetitive. For instance, the transition between the description of the beach and the hotel is abrupt. Paragraphing is present, but the body paragraph is quite dense, making it difficult to follow the sequence of changes clearly. The referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the sentence 'The car park was moved the main road', which lacks a preposition, affecting the flow of information.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. The student uses basic terms like 'new things' and 'changed', which are not sufficiently academic. There are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'it's present day looks' (should be 'its present-day appearance') and 'made comparisons where related' (should be 'where relevant'). While the meaning is generally clear, the range of vocabulary is limited, and the student struggles to use more sophisticated or topic-specific terminology to describe the changes in the harbour layout effectively.
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 'The car park was moved the main road' (missing preposition), 'The private beach meant to secure' (missing auxiliary verb), and 'provided with beautiful view of sea' (missing articles). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after periods in some instances. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to demonstrate a lack of control over complex structures, keeping the score in the mid-range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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