Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-24
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)
over the 10-years period , the town saw significant changes of harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.
overall as we see that many things has changed and got addded to the town as we see harbour in 2000 had showers and toilets and marina ( private yachts) and a car park to the west of harbour and below them there is another car park and plus to that , there is a fishing boats but , today they adds another showere and toilets and the car park stayed the same , and they replace marina by the fishing boats and the contrast is the same ,as we see to the north of harbour one boat at the duck however today they introduce more of boats , and at the south they added cafes and shops they build a hotel in place of the castle (disused) and that's it
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response covers some of the main features of the maps, such as the additions of cafés and shops, the replacement of the disused castle with a hotel, and the reconfiguration of the marina and fishing boats. However, the overview is extremely informal and conversational ("overall as we see that many things has changed and got addded"), and several specific spatial details are misdescribed or difficult to follow. The writing also breaks off abruptly at the end with "and that's it", which limits the overall development and completeness of the task. It addresses the prompt minimally, resulting in a band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0
The response is written as one single, continuous run-on sentence without proper punctuation, capitalization, or paragraph breaks. Cohesive devices are either missing or overly simplistic and repetitive, relying heavily on strings of "and" and "as we see". There is no clear logical progression or paragraph structure to guide the reader through the comparison of the two time periods. This lack of organisational framework significantly disrupts the flow of the text, fitting the band 4.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently lifting terms directly from the prompt such as "marina ( private yachts)", "fishing boats", and "showers and toilets". There are several word-choice and morphological errors, such as "got addded", "duck" instead of "dock", and "showere". Less common lexical items are attempted with low accuracy or unnatural collocation. Communication is occasionally strained due to awkward phrasings and spelling mistakes, which places the response firmly at band 4.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting entirely of a single, highly convoluted run-on sentence joined by coordinating conjunctions. There is a complete lack of punctuation, including missing full stops, commas, and capital letters at the beginning of sentences. Frequent errors in tense consistency, subject-verb agreement (e.g., "they adds", "they replace... and the contrast is the same"), and sentence structure heavily impede readability. This demonstrates a weak command of grammar, aligning with a band 4.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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