Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-27
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 given map illustrates the information of porth Harbour in the past and comparison with present.
Overall, the harbour altere much as copmare to past. In South West the harbour has many additional areas like extra toilets and the castle converted into a hotel.
To begin with the main road is located in west side of the harbour and car park are conected to the main road in the past and also in present. A way is turns left to the horbour, in the past one car park was connected to this road, now which is connect to the main road. In 2000, beside the car park harbour had only one area for showers and washrooms, however in present location has extra showers and toiliets.
In the past plan harbour had a castle South east side of the plan, which is changed into a hotel, just beside the hotel there was a public beach, which remained unchanged,but now this is only for the hotel. Next to the hotel lifeboat also has same place, but cafe and shops is constructed near the lifeboats. Marine private Yatches and fishing boats takes ecah others space. Moreover, passanger faerries and one also dock added on the public beach as cpmare to past.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student attempts to cover the main changes between the two maps of Porth Harbour in 2000 and the present day. An overview is provided at the beginning, noting that the harbour altered much, and key spatial transformations are mentioned, such as the marina and fishing boats swapping locations, the castle being converted into a hotel, and the addition of cafés and shops. However, the response contains several inaccuracies in describing locations and features; for instance, stating that passenger ferries and an additional dock were added onto the public beach is a misreading of the visual data. The descriptions of road connections and car parks are also somewhat confused and lack precision. Consequently, while the main task is addressed, the ideas are under-developed and contain factual errors regarding the map details, aligning the response with Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs attempting to detail the changes. Logical progression is somewhat evident, but the flow is frequently disrupted by awkward referencing and mechanical cohesive devices. Phrases like 'To begin with', 'In the past plan', and 'as cpmare to past' are used repetitively or incorrectly. The relationships between ideas within sentences are sometimes unclear due to run-on structures and abrupt transitions, such as jumping between the road system, restrooms, and the hotel without smooth signposting. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is weak, placing this performance at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic description of the map, utilizing terms like 'harbour', 'car park', 'marina', 'fishing boats', and 'hotel'. However, there is a limited range with frequent spelling errors ('altere' for altered, 'copmare' for compared, 'conected' for connected, 'horbour' for harbour, 'toiliets' for toilets, 'Yatches' for yachts, 'passanger' for passenger, 'faerries' for ferries, 'cpmare' for compared). Word choice and collocation are often unnatural, such as 'Marine private Yatches and fishing boats takes ecah others space'. The frequent lexical errors and lack of precision restrict the score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control is weak. There are numerous grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies, missing prepositions, and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'the harbour altere much', 'car park are conected', 'cafe and shops is constructed', 'lifeboat also has same place'). Run-on sentences and comma splices are also present, such as 'which remained unchanged,but now this is only for the hotel'. While the meaning can generally be parsed with effort, the high frequency of errors across basic and complex structures points firmly to Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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