Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-20

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 6.5)

The layout displays Porth Harbour in 2000 and with the recent changes as of now.

Overall, the location has undergone significant redevelopment. It has been transformed from a traditional harbour to an attractive tourist spot with various recreational facilities.

In 2000, Porth Harbour had an entrance to a public beach at the North Eastern side, followed by an area for passenger ferries and a dock towards the left. At North West, the main road connected to a car parking area, with the shower & toilets facilities just above it and a portion dedicated to private yachts beside them. At South West, the main road again connected with a car parking area with fishing boats right next to it. The Southern road led to a lifeboat facility near the ocean. Towards South East, there was an abondoned castle with another public beach next to it.

Since then, the harbour has witnessed extensive renovation. The single dock has been introduced with another dock right next to it, and cafes & shops facilities has been added right next to the lifeboat section of the harbour. The fishing boats and private yachts areas have been interchanged, providing more room for the yachts. The barren castle has been transformed into a hotel which is connected with the road, along with a dedicated private beach, which used to be a public beach earlier.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of Porth Harbour in 2000 and the changes that have occurred up to the present day. An effective overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the general transformation from a traditional harbour into a tourist-oriented recreational spot. Key spatial relationships and major modifications—such as the swapping of the fishing boats and marina, the addition of cafes and shops, and the replacement of the castle with a hotel and private beach—are clearly described and supported with appropriate comparisons. There are minor inaccuracies in positional reporting, such as describing the dock as being 'towards the left' rather than at the northern entrance, but overall the content selection is solid and well-developed, aligning closely with a Band 7 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organised with a clear overarching progression, moving from an introductory statement and overview to a detailed description of the past layout, followed by the contemporary changes. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different temporal stages and thematic ideas. Cohesive devices are employed reasonably well to guide the reader through the comparisons, using phrases such as 'In 2000', 'At South West', and 'Since then'. However, referencing and cohesive links are occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive (e.g., frequent use of 'connected with a car parking area'), preventing the response from reaching the higher bands where cohesion becomes entirely fluid and unobtrusive.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic task describing a map, using terms like 'redevelopment', 'transformed', 'recreational facilities', and 'interchanged'. There is some attempt to incorporate less common lexical items ('traditional harbour', 'extensive renovation', 'barren castle'), though word choices are occasionally imprecise or non-standard, such as 'abondoned' (spelling error) and referring to the castle as 'barren' rather than 'disused'. Spelling and word formation are generally clear enough to ensure communication is not impeded, placing the lexical performance solidly at Band 6.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and passive constructions ('has been transformed', 'has been introduced'). There is a good variety of temporal and spatial prepositional phrases. However, grammatical errors persist throughout the text, such as 'The single dock has been introduced with another dock right next to it' (awkward preposition and phrasing) and 'cafes & shops facilities has been added' (subject-verb agreement error with a plural compound subject and singular verb). While these errors do not impede overall comprehension, they occur frequently enough to prevent the grammar score from rising to Band 7.

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

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