Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-11
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 illustrations give information about the Porth Harbour with two different look before and passage of time . Overall, The Harbour look had two public beach and one changed into private beach and with the addition of cafes and shops in today look.
It is quit evident from the diagram that Porth Harbour in 2000 had the main road west side and also two car parks . However they also had a shower and toilets on the north side of car park . Also that of fishing boats and lifeboat was present . One more that they also had public beach on the both north and south side of it .
Meanwhile, today look of Harbour is changed with the addition of Hotel on south east corner and also public beach is changed into private beach on the south side of it. The addition of one more is that cafe and shops is build near the west side of lifeboat .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the harbour in 2000 and today, identifying key changes such as the addition of the hotel, the conversion of a public beach to private, and the introduction of cafes and shops. However, the overview is somewhat simplistic and lacks a clear, professional summary of the most significant trends. While the main features are identified, the description of the layout is occasionally imprecise, such as referring to 'the main road west side' without clearly contextualising its position relative to other features. To reach a higher band, ensure that comparisons are more explicit and that the overview highlights the most striking transformations rather than just listing individual changes.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into three paragraphs, which is appropriate for this task. However, the logical flow is hindered by repetitive phrasing and a lack of sophisticated cohesive devices. Transitions between sentences are often mechanical, such as the repeated use of 'Also' and 'And'. Referencing is sometimes unclear; for example, 'One more that they also had' is grammatically awkward and disrupts the reader's ability to follow the comparison. While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, the lack of varied linking words and the somewhat disjointed sentence structure limit the overall coherence of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is limited and repetitive, relying heavily on basic terms like 'look', 'changed', and 'addition'. There are several instances of awkward word choice, such as 'today look of Harbour' instead of 'the current layout of the harbour' or 'the harbour as it appears today'. The student struggles with collocations, for instance, 'is build' (should be 'has been built') and 'on the both north and south side'. To improve, the student should focus on using more precise geographical and descriptive vocabulary, such as 'transformed', 'converted', 'situated', or 'adjacent to', to better describe the spatial changes in the diagram.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response relies on a limited range of simple sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The Harbour look had', 'cafe and shops is build') and missing articles ('the' before 'main road', 'the' before 'lifeboat'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary capitalisation ('The Harbour', 'Hotel') and awkward phrasing that impacts readability. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors and the lack of complex sentence structures prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence construction and article usage would be highly beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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