Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The given maps illustrates the information about the a harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.

Overall, it is de clear that some places are changed and some demolished. However the north-east side mostly remain same according to the given time-period.

At a fleeting glance, in the west side of porth harbour had a main road, and next to this had showers, and toilets and car park which have no change till today. Marina and fishing boats changed with each other. On the top of north side had public beach, dock and passenger ferries. These are same today in porth harbour.

Moving further, in the corner of east-south side had had a castle which was disused in 2000. Now It developed with hotel and a road which went to life boat. It connected with hotel. Public beach near the castle converted in private beach. Now it is only for hotels' customers.

The car pack of the corner of west

south side remain same and showers

and toilets build near the car park.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The candidate attempts to cover the main changes between the two maps of Porth Harbour in 2000 and today. An overview is provided, noting that some areas changed while others remained the same. Key features such as the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, the replacement of the disused castle with a hotel, and the conversion of the public beach into a private one are identified. However, some descriptions are vague or inaccurate, such as stating that the dock and passenger ferries are 'same today' when the dock features an expanded layout with two berthed boats. Additionally, some parts of the response are slightly disjointed, but it successfully addresses the core visual information required for Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organised into paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing different areas of the maps. However, the logical progression is hindered by awkward transitions and disjointed sentence structures, such as 'Moving further, in the corner of east-south side had had a castle...'. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or misused, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'It connected with hotel'). Paragraphing is attempted but lacks smooth flow between sections, affecting the overall readability and cohesion of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive (e.g., 'changed', 'same', 'car park'). There are several lexical and word-choice errors, such as 'illustrates the information about the a harbour' and 'It developed with hotel'. The candidate attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'demolished' and 'fleeting glance', but overall control of collocations and word formation is limited. Spelling is mostly accurate, but word choice errors and awkward phrasing frequently detract from the quality of the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms, articles, and prepositions (e.g., 'maps illustrates', 'on the west side of porth harbour had a main road', 'and showers and toilets build near the car park'). Sentence structures are often clumsy or incomplete, such as 'the car pack of the corner of west south side remain same and showers and toilets build near the car park'. These errors require the reader to re-read parts of the text to understand the meaning.

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

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