Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The maps showed the changes in harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.
Overall, harbour contain several alterations from before. The castle is converted into a hotel and the public beach near the castle is changed into private beach. The placement of fishing boats and private yachts interchanged. Cafes and shops are built and incearse numbers of showers and toilets are available now.
The quantity of docks increased from on to two near the public beach and more passenger ferries are available now. The castle located in the south of no use is replaced into a hotel and the nearby public beach is transformed into a private beach. Furthermore the lifeboat that is linked with hotel now have cafes and shops nearby. The area for fishing boats and private yachts are now interchanged together. More showers and toilets are built above the car parking near the private yachts place now. However, the location of public beach is same as before
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers the main features of the harbour changes between 2000 and today, identifying key alterations such as the conversion of the disused castle into a hotel, the transformation of the public beach into a private beach, and the swapping of locations for fishing boats and private yachts. However, the response is brief, and some descriptions are repetitive or lack full development. For instance, the overview lacks a summary of the broader structural shifts. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the level of detail places the response firmly at Band 5.5 to 6.0. The mention of specific additions like cafés, shops, and additional showers and toilets shows clear identification of visual data, but the overall execution remains somewhat limited in scope.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into an introduction, a brief overview paragraph, and a body paragraph. However, the paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and the sequencing of ideas lacks a smooth, logical progression. There is unnecessary repetition between the overview and the main body paragraph, where the same points regarding the hotel and the beach are restated almost immediately. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive, leading to a mechanical feel (e.g., 'Furthermore', 'However'). Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of sophisticated signposting affects the overall flow, warranting a Band 5.5 score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'alterations', 'interchanged', 'transformed', and 'relocated'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'incearse' (increase), 'from on to two' (from one to two), and 'above the car parking'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success, and some expressions lack natural collocation. While communication is not impeded, these frequent minor errors and spelling slips restrict the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The castle located in the south of no use is replaced into a hotel...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The maps showed... harbour contain...'), tense inconsistencies ('is replaced into' instead of 'is replaced by'), and awkward phrasing. Punctuation is also sparse, with missing terminal full stops in places. The range of structures is limited, and frequent errors cause some distraction for the reader, aligning with Band 5.5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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