Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-13
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 maps comapre tha layout of Porth Harbour in 2000 with its modernized version tody.
Overall, the harbour has undergone significant modernization to accomodate new facilities. The most notable changes include addition of a dock, cafe and shops, while the public beech is now converted to the hotels private beech.
In 2000, the north-east and south-east corners were dedicated to public beech consisting of private yachts on top left corner and fishing boats below it. In addition different facilities like a dock areas, passenger ferries, and castle were provided. In contrast, the western side has a main road connected with two car parking areas, meanwhile, a road is also connected making a way towards lifeboat. In the west-north corner of car parking some showers and toilets were also available.
Today, the layout has become much more commercialized. There is a addition of dock in the northe-east corner, else the fishing boats and marina interchange each other. Castle is now constructed into a hotel whereas, the sothern side of public beech is now reserved as private beech of hotel. An addition of cafes and shops is located next to the lifeboat, while now south-west corner also comprises of showers and toilets.
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 student successfully identifies the main features of the harbour in 2000 and compares them with the modern layout. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the overall trend of commercialization and the addition of new facilities. Key changes such as the introduction of the dock, hotel conversion of the castle, and the shift from public to private beach are highlighted. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and omissions in spatial details, such as misidentifying compass directions or specific positioning of features like the lifeboat and parking areas. Nevertheless, all parts of the task are addressed adequately, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory overview paragraph, followed by a body paragraph detailing the map from 2000, and a final body paragraph outlining the changes up to the present day. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as ambiguous pronoun use and transitions like 'else the fishing boats and marina interchange each other'. Despite these minor faults, the organization remains logical and easy to follow, supporting a score of 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'commercialized', 'modernization', and 'interchange'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('comapre', 'tody', 'accomodate', 'beech' instead of beach, 'sothern') and occasional awkward word choices ('public beech is now converted to the hotels private beech', 'interchange each other'). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they demonstrate limitations in lexical control, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and prepositional phrases. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, such as missing articles ('addition of dock', 'in northe-east corner'), incorrect prepositions ('in the west-north corner of car parking'), and awkward phrasing ('meanwhile, a road is also connected making a way towards lifeboat'). Although these errors do not obscure the general meaning, they occur regularly and lower the overall accuracy of the writing, justifying a band score of 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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