Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-15

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 given maps illustrates the changes in port harbour in 2000 and how it looks in present.

Overall, the numerous changes has been seen in the harbour. the castle of no use is replaced by the hotel in southeast corner. while, the public beach near the hotel is converted to private beach in present time.

It can be vividly seen that the port harbour have undergo plethora of changes. initially, the passengers ferries in the center of north direction remains at the same place. whereas, there is newly establishment of cafe and shops behind the lifeboat area in south direction. however, the showers and toilets area remained unchange in west direction, as car park area in same direction stod at same place.

Moving towards the rest of the information, the castle located in the southeast corner is of no use and now it iis converted into a hotel and public beach in 2000, now owned by the hotel and became private beach, only accesible by hotel members. moreover,the road hve constructed to rach at the hotel. as the docks area get expanded whereas in 2000, there was only one dock area but now it is enough for two docks. the car park in southwest corner has change the way of entrance to main road instead of road that goes to hotel. the marina private yacths and fishing boat area are interchanged with each other.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task by identifying main features and making relevant comparisons between the two maps, such as the conversion of the castle into a hotel and the swapping of the marina and fishing boat areas. However, some descriptions are slightly imprecise or repetitive, and certain details lack full development or clarity (e.g., 'the castle of no use'). There is a clear overall trend discussed, and the key developments are reported, placing this response firmly at Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into paragraphs, providing a coherent overall arrangement. The student attempts to use cohesive devices ('Overall', 'whereas', 'moreover'), although some links are mechanical or slightly awkward in placement. Paragraphing is present, but grouping of ideas could be more logical, as some map features are scattered across different sections rather than being presented topically or geographically. Referencing is mostly clear, but occasional clunky transitions prevent a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'converted', 'relocated', 'expanded', and 'interchanged'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary ('plethora of changes', 'accessible'), but there are also noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies ('newly establishment', 'castle of no use', 'private yacths'). Spelling errors like 'yacths' also occur. Communication is not impeded, but vocabulary control limits the score to Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are numerous basic errors, including missing capitalisation ('the given maps', 'Overall'), subject-verb agreement issues ('the numerous changes has been seen', 'the port harbour have undergo'), and tense confusion ('stod at same place', 'have constructed'). Punctuation is weak, particularly with run-on sentences and comma splices. While meaning is generally conveyed, the frequency of grammatical errors keeps this at Band 5.5.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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