Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-17
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 provided diagram demonstrate the transformation of port harbour from 2000 to the present day .
Overall , the hatbour has undergone notable enhancement including the expansion of docking facilitities and the introduction of new amenities while features have remained unchanges.
In the year 2000 , port harbour was characterized by a single northerrn dock for two passenger ferries and lifeboats .Whereas the public beach which is situated to the east and a marina designated for private yatch to the west .The infrastructure includes essential facilities such as a car park , bathrooms and a lifeboat station ,which were interconnected by a network of roads.Additionally this area also consist of public beaches and a disused castle to its far east which facilitating recreational activities for visitors and local alike.
According to the current layout of the port harbour reveals significant development and changes .The additions that have been made to the land area of the port harbour are showers , toillets ,cafes and shops. Moreover , the castle has been converted into a hotels.While the public beachesnear it has been privatized .The sea area how has an additional dock and the private yatchs and fishing boats in the marina have exchanged places.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the harbour in 2000 and comparing them with the present day. A clear overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting key changes such as the expansion of docking facilities, new amenities, and unchanged features. The student correctly identifies major spatial changes, including the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, the addition of cafes and shops, and the conversion of the disused castle into a hotel with a private beach. However, there are some minor descriptive inaccuracies regarding the initial layout in 2000, such as stating there was a single northern dock for ferries and lifeboats when the maps show distinct features. Despite these slight misinterpretations, the key developments and comparisons are sufficiently covered, meeting the requirements for a solid band 6.5 or 7.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into four distinct paragraphs, following a logical progression from introduction and overview to specific details of the past layout and current changes. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'In the year 2000', 'Whereas', and 'Moreover'. However, some cohesive links and referencing are slightly mechanical or awkward, as seen in 'Whereas the public beach which is situated to the east' (which creates a fragmented sentence structure) and 'According to the current layout of the port harbour reveals' (where the prepositional phrase disrupts the subject-verb structure). Paragraphing is functional, and the overall progression is clear enough to guide the reader through the comparison, supporting a score of 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a map comparison task, employing terms such as 'transformation', 'enhancement', 'infrastructure', and 'privatized'. There are several lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, including typos like 'demonstrate' instead of 'demonstrates', 'hatbour' instead of 'harbour', 'un-changes', 'northerrn', 'yatch', 'toillets', and 'how' instead of 'now'. Furthermore, collocation and word formation errors occur, such as 'converted into a hotels' and 'public beachesnear'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, their frequency prevents the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, utilizing relative clauses ('which is situated to the east') and prepositional phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several serious structural errors, such as incomplete or fragmented sentences ('Whereas the public beach which is situated to the east and a marina designated for private yatch to the west.') and subject-verb/clause confusion ('According to the current layout of the port harbour reveals...'). Punctuation errors, such as spaces before commas and periods, are also noticeable. Because errors in grammar and complex structures occasionally impede comprehension, this criterion fits the band 5.5 descriptor.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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