Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-18
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 maps illustrate the old plan and the change that took place in the Porth Harbour after 2000.
Overall, it is clear that the site under went significant changes. The major developments are building extra docks for passenger ferries and showers and toilets. The most noticeable change is building the hotel.
In year 2000, there were no shower and toilet facilites available near car park but now two showers and toilets are built near both parking. The fishing boats and place with switched with private yachtes giving them extra space. Initially there was only one docking facility for ferries but now one more dock is built.
On the Southeast side of the map, the castle building is now converted into a hotel. Also, the Public beach near that is converted to private beach for hotel only and all these facilites are linked with a road that again link to main road. Near this road where it apart toward hotel, new cafes and shops are opened.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two maps. An overview is provided, noting the significant changes such as the addition of docks and the conversion of the castle into a hotel. Key spatial changes are accurately captured, such as the relocation of the marina and fishing boats, and the transformation of the south-eastern castle and beach area. However, there are minor inaccuracies in detail, such as stating that 'there were no shower and toilet facilities available near car park' when one set was already present in 2000, and slight confusion over the dock expansion. Despite these minor misinterpretations, the core trends are well identified and supported by the visual data.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged logically into four paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by two body paragraphs detailing specific spatial transformations. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader through the changes, such as 'In year 2000', 'now', and 'On the Southeast side'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes clunky or repetitive, as seen in phrases like 'Near this road where it apart toward hotel'. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, but the progression within paragraphs could be smoother to establish clearer links between related features.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'harbour', 'marina', 'passenger ferries', 'fishing boats', and 'dock'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are often marred by word-choice and spelling errors, such as 'under went' (underwent), 'facilites' (facilities), 'private yachtes' (private yachts), and 'apart' (branched/split). These lexical errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the score to Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The maps illustrate the old plan and the change that took place...' and 'The fishing boats and place with switched with private yachtes...'. While there is some control over basic structures, grammatical and mechanical errors are noticeable throughout, including tense inconsistencies, missing plural markers ('near both parking'), and awkward passive constructions ('the fishing boats and place with switched'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips recur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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