Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-14

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 two maps illustrate how the layout of porth harbour has changed from 2000 to the present day.

Overall, the area has undergone with significant redevelopment. While, the castle disused was the key feature in 2000, it has now been replaced by hotel. In Addition, there were one showers and toilets, and dock area that are now increased and become two. There were two public beach that reduced and now only one public beach. The direction of one of the car park has changed from south to north. However, life boat area now have cafes and shops.

In 2000, the harbour consisted of public beach and castle disused . Their were 2 car parks one in west and other one in south. their was a showers and toilets area along with marina private yachts . Moreover,fishing boats was situated at the corner in south, followed by road , a lifeboat present in south east side. However , the passenger ferries and dock presented on north side of harbour.

By contract , in the present day, castle disused has replaced with hotel for the hotel. The area of public beach is reduced and one private beach is created. Furthermore, the life boat area has new cafes and shops for eating, while fishing boats and marina private yachts replaced with each other. In addition, showers and toilets has increased , now their is one more showers area i south along with car park that has chnaged its direction. Passenger ferries remain same with not changes . But dock area is become larger in present day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all the key changes shown in the maps, such as the replacement of the disused castle with a hotel, the addition of new facilities like cafés and shops near the lifeboat station, and the swapping of locations between the marina and the fishing boats. An overall trend is provided in the opening paragraph. However, some details are slightly inaccurate or confusingly stated, such as claiming the showers and toilets 'doubled' or that the public beaches decreased in an unnuanced way (since one was replaced by a private hotel beach). Despite these minor misinterpretations, the main features and comparisons are successfully reported, satisfying the core requirements for an Academic Task 1 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into an introduction with an overview, followed by two body paragraphs detailing the past and present layouts. Paragraphing is used appropriately to structure the comparison. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', 'By contract', and 'Furthermore'. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen with inappropriate connectors like starting a sentence with 'While, the castle disused...' and typographical errors like 'By contract' instead of 'By contrast'. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression within sentences occasionally falters due to punctuation and grammatical awkwardness.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing maps and spatial changes, incorporating terms like 'redevelopment', 'relocated', 'harbour', and 'facilities'. However, there are frequent word choice and collocation errors, such as 'castle disused' instead of 'disused castle', 'one showers and toilets', and 'have not changes'. Less common vocabulary attempts lack precision, and spelling or phrasing errors occur throughout the text (e.g., 'chnaged', 'i south'). The lexical range is sufficient to communicate the main points but lacks the flexibility and control required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and comparative forms. However, the text contains a high frequency of grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('there were one showers', 'their was a showers and toilets area', 'their is one more'), articles ('a hotel', 'the life boat area'), and prepositions ('in south', 'on north side'). Punctuation errors and awkward phrasing also persist throughout the response. While the meaning is generally communicated, the persistent grammatical inaccuracies place this submission firmly in the band 5.5 category.

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