Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-28

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 diagram illustrates a porth harbour in 2000 and how it changed and looks today.

Overall, the porth harbour underwent significant changes with castle updated by hotel and public beach by private beach. Moreover, there is addition of cafes and shop beside lifeboat and passenger ferries.

Looking at the details, main road, showers and toilets and car park in the west and road and lifeboat in the middle and public beach in the north east corner remained unchanged. However, disused castle is changed by hotel and public beach by private beach. On the left of lifeboat, there is addition of cafes and shopes for eating.

Furthermore, fishing boats take over marina and marina over fishing boats. More showers and toilets are builted on the left of marina. There was only 1 dock in 2000 but there is addition of docks and passenger ferries. The overall structure of the harbour remained same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by identifying key changes and features between the 2000 and current harbour plans, such as the replacement of the castle with a hotel and the swap of the marina and fishing boats locations. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, outlining general transformations. However, some descriptions are vague or inaccurate, such as stating 'fishing boats take over marina and marina over fishing boats' rather than precisely explaining the relocation of these specific basins. Furthermore, certain details like the exact nature of the dock expansion are slightly underdeveloped. Nevertheless, the main spatial shifts and additions are captured, placing the response solidly within the Band 6 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement, divided into an introduction, an overview, and a body paragraph detailing specific changes. Progression is attempted through transitional phrases like 'Looking at the details' and 'Furthermore'. However, paragraphing is somewhat cramped, with the overview lacking separation from the introductory and body sentences. Cohesive devices are occasionally mechanical or slightly repetitive, and referencing is at times unclear, such as ambiguous pronoun use or abrupt shifts between features. Paragraphing and logical flow meet the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms like 'harbour', 'marina', 'lifeboat', 'passenger ferries', and 'private beach'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'castle updated by hotel', 'builted', and 'cafes and shopes'. Some phrasing is overly simplistic or repetitive, reflecting a restricted control over word formation and collocation. These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'Looking at the details, main road... remained unchanged. However, disused castle is changed by hotel...'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward passive/active transitions, such as 'castle updated by hotel', 'disused castle is changed by hotel', and 'builted'. Punctuation is generally functional, but missing articles and incorrect prepositions occur throughout the text. These errors occasionally cause slight strain for the reader, aligning the grammar profile with Band 5.5.

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

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