Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The plans demostrates porth harbour in 2000 and after the development how it look like today.
Overall, there are massive devolopment of new building of cafes and shops as of today and replacement of castle into a hotel.
In 2000, north west had showes and toilets along with car parking that was linked with main higway.There were another car parking linked with lifeboat conneted with the beach roqd to the main highway. Subsequently, fishing boats were nearcar parking in west south. However, there was a castle that was not in use near the public beach in east south.
As of today, Marina ( private yachts) repalces its location from north west to west south and both car parking linked with
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5
The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, stopping abruptly at 120 words and leaving the second body paragraph incomplete. Although the student attempts an overview identifying key transformations like the addition of cafes and shops and the conversion of the castle into a hotel, the incomplete nature of the response means that several parts of the visual data (such as the detailed changes to the marina, fishing boats, and beach areas) are left unaddressed or underdeveloped. Consequently, Task Achievement is severely limited by word count and omission of content, corresponding to a Band 4.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text attempts a basic logical structure with an introductory sentence, an overview, and the beginnings of descriptive paragraphs. However, because the response cuts off mid-sentence at the end, overall progression is heavily disrupted. Paragraphing is attempted but remains underdeveloped. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes awkward (e.g., 'Subsequentley', 'However'). While the opening tries to guide the reader through the comparison, the abrupt ending and lack of complete supporting paragraphs prevent higher coherence, leading to a Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a basic, adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map, using terms like 'harbour', 'marina', 'castle', 'hotel', and 'car parking'. However, there are numerous spelling errors throughout the text (e.g., 'demostrates' for demonstrates, 'devolopment' for development, 'showes' for showers, 'higway' for highway, 'conneted' for connected, 'roqd' for road, 'repalces' for replaces). These errors and limited lexical flexibility restrict the score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures (e.g., relative clauses and time-contrasting clauses). However, grammatical and mechanical accuracy is weak. There are frequent punctuation and capitalization errors, alongside tense inconsistencies and awkward phrasings such as 'how it look like today' instead of 'how it looks today'. Sentence boundary errors and preposition misuse are also noticeable. Because errors are frequent and can occasionally cause confusion, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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