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 map shows the modification of a harbour from 2000 to current time.

Overall, it is crystal clear that many buildings are destroyed and new ones are set up here. However showers and hotels as well as car park remain untouched over the given time period .

At a fleeting glance, in the North-West marina is converted into fishing boats and in fishing boats it is replaced with marina for private yachts . Entry of car park near marina had been changed from south to west side. And showers & toilets had built close by car park. A new dock had set up in the north for passenger femes.

Moreover, south side road is modified from single to couple branch, the new road leads to hotel. In 2000 down leftside there was a unused castle later redeveloped to hotel. A new cafes & shops had introduced alongside to lifeboat. In the south the public beach is changed to private beach for the hotel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers the main changes shown in the maps, such as the conversion of the marina and fishing boats, the addition of the hotel, and alterations to the beach and road layout. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, stating that buildings were destroyed and new ones built, though it lacks a clearer summary of the overall spatial transformation. While key features are identified, some details are slightly imprecise, such as mentioning that 'showers and hotels as well as car park remain untouched' when in fact a hotel replaced the disused castle, and new parking/amenity blocks were added. However, the response successfully contrasts the 2000 layout with the current one, meeting the core requirements of Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is structured into four paragraphs, including a brief introduction and an overall summary. Logical progression is attempted through spatial markers like 'At a fleeting glance, in the North-West' and 'Moreover, south side road'. However, paragraphing and linking are sometimes mechanical and abrupt. Cohesive devices are minimally or awkwardly deployed, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'in fishing boats it is replaced with marina'). Overall organisation gives a coherent general arrangement, but cohesion lacks flexibility and smooth flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for a map description, such as 'modification', 'redeveloped', 'converted', and 'alongside'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'passenger femes' (ferries), 'couple branch', and 'Entry of car park'. Less common lexical items are attempted but often lack precision or natural phrasing. Spelling errors like 'femes' and awkward phrasings impede fluency slightly, placing this performance firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is attempted, such as passive structures ('is converted into', 'had been changed', 'had built'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors with verb tenses and passive voice formation, including 'had built' instead of 'were built', 'had set up' instead of 'was set up', and missing articles ('in north', 'to hotel'). While these errors rarely completely obscure the message, they occur frequently enough to prevent the score from reaching a Band 6.

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

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