Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

In this task we compare the porth harbour in 2000 from todays harbour it is easily seen that there are lack of boats in past .there is no cafes and shops there wiser area for parking as well as no an open area for fishes boates and a disused castle there is single main road is open in 2 streets also a wider public beach with less boates and good sea shores. where as teh poth harbour in present is crowded with piblic and boates also the parking area is getting doublr here also having marina privates yachts and at the place os mis used castle there is an hotel and on the area of older piblic beach there is aprivate beach there for individuals whi willing to pay for it.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The student attempts to describe the main changes between the two maps of Porth Harbour in 2000 and today. However, the response falls significantly below the minimum length requirement of 150 words, coming in at only 131 words, which incurs a direct penalty on Task Achievement. Furthermore, several key features are misreported or confused—for instance, stating there is a "lack of boats in past" when fishing boats and ferries were present, and describing the castle as "mis used" rather than disused. While the student identifies some correct developments such as the addition of cafés and shops, a hotel replacing the castle, and the change of beach status, the overall development is limited and imprecise.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The response lacks clear paragraphing, presented as a single dense block of text, which severely hampers the readability and logical flow of ideas. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, with awkward transitions like "where as teh poth harbour in present". The overall progression of information is difficult to follow, moving back and forth between features without a structured overview or clear spatial organization. Referencing is also faulty, making it hard to track whether the student is referring to 2000 or today.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The lexical range is very limited and basic, with frequent spelling mistakes ("teh", "doublr", "piblic", "whi", "wising") and inappropriate word choices ("wiser area", "fishes boates"). The vocabulary used is mostly repetitive and relies heavily on direct lifting or distorted recall of terms from the prompt. There is little evidence of less common lexical items, and word formation errors occasionally impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text consists largely of run-on sentences joined by commas or lacking proper punctuation ("...in past .there is no cafes..."). There is a severe lack of error-free sentences, with persistent mistakes in subject-verb agreement, article usage, and tense consistency. Complex structures are attempted poorly, resulting in tangled syntax and distorted meanings.

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

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