Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-22
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 diagram illustrates a harbour in 2000 and how it looks now.
Overall, the outline of porth harbour remain the same but today's, some noticeable changes in porth harbour. Most of things are same in both harbour but few things were changing place up and down.
First of all the western side of both porth harbour is passing a main road. While, the northern west side has a place of showers & toilets, below it is a car park, the car park is attached to the main road for residents and frogein. In 2000, the marina(private yachts) are upper side of north and fishing boats are lower and they are near to the car park, In contrast, today porth harbour have a some noticeable changes at this point, fishing boats are moving to north side and marina are below to south side of harbour and also added near to the another shower & toilets which is quite below the car parking, this parking is also attach the main road. Anyhow, the another small road are passed in southern of porth harbour, in 2000, the south corner has a castle (disused) but today, the small road had divided into two plaves one is going to lifeboat in both harbour while today, the other road is only going to hotel. Lower side of south there is a mini beach.
In the center, of both harbour passengers ferries are here and dock are here at a northern.Today the third dock are added with other two.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The candidate attempts to summarise the main features of the maps, noting the changes to the marina, fishing boats, accommodation, and beach areas. However, the response suffers from significant weaknesses in selection and reporting. The overview is extremely vague and ungrammatical ('outline of porth harbour remain the same but today's, some noticeable changes'). Furthermore, some spatial descriptions are inaccurate or poorly communicated, such as misinterpreting the docks and configuration of the harbour entrance. While the main transformations are mentioned, the lack of a clear, structured overview and imprecise reporting place this at band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response lacks a clear paragraph structure, being divided into a short introduction, a very long, convoluted body paragraph, and a brief concluding sentence. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or repetitively (e.g., 'First of all', 'While', 'In contrast', 'Anyhow'). The logical progression is frequently disrupted by run-on sentences and dense groupings of unrelated spatial details, making it difficult to follow the comparison between the two time periods. This performance aligns with band 5.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on simple words like 'place', 'side', and 'change'. There are notable lexical and collocational inaccuracies, such as 'frogein' (foreign), 'upper side of north', and 'passing a main road'. While the candidate attempts some topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., 'marina', 'passenger ferries', 'lifeboat'), the overall range is limited, and word choice errors are noticeable throughout the text, corresponding to a band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text is characterised by frequent basic errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('outline... remain', 'marina... are'), incorrect prepositions ('below to south side'), and severe run-on sentence structures joined incorrectly by commas. There is a very limited range of accurate complex structures, and frequent errors cause strain for the reader, fitting the band 4.0 descriptors closely.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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