Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-30
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 layout shows a harbour in year 2000 and its new look of today.
Overall, the harbour underwent considerable redevelopment, with several facilities being removed or relocated and new amenities such as a hotel, cafés and shops being added. In which, Castle,some showers and toilets were removed and also, Fishing boats and Marina positions were replaced. Car parkings,Public beach and Passenger ferries postion remains the same.
In 2000, a main road was runniing on the West side and two main parking areas were placed on the left of it.beside the East, Marina on North and a Fishing boasts portion were placed at the opposite side.There are two public beaches,on of them was on the North-west and the other were at South end. a small cetnral road was passing throught in-between the Fishing and the Castle present at the South-East corner.
Today, The finshing boats and Marina portion are replaced.Some cafe and shopes are added. A site has been designated for a hote.So now the Layout is very diverse and having lot of facilities. Despite these changes, the main road, car parks, public beaches and passenger ferry facilities have remained largely unchanged.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The candidate has attempted to address all parts of the task by reporting the main features and comparisons between the two maps. An overview is present, highlighting major developments such as the removal of the castle and the swapping of the marina and fishing boats. However, there are some inaccuracies and omissions in the data reporting; for example, the text states that 'Castle, some showers and toilets were removed', whereas the showers and toilets were actually expanded, and the disused castle was replaced by a hotel. Furthermore, the description contains vague phrasing and some minor misinterpretations of the visual data. Despite these shortcomings, the overall trends are successfully captured, earning a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing specific changes. While there is a clear logical progression overall, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. Expressions like 'In which, Castle...' and 'beside the East, Marina on North' disrupt the flow and demonstrate awkward referencing. Paragraphing is attempted, but sentence-level cohesion is occasionally hindered by abrupt transitions and poor punctuation. However, the progression from the overview to detailed spatial descriptions is generally easy to follow, aligning well with the descriptors for Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic spatial changes such as 'redevelopment', 'relocated', and 'replaced'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'finshing boats', 'shopes', 'postions', and 'Car parkings'. The range is somewhat limited, and attempts at less common vocabulary often result in spelling or morphological inaccuracies. Although these errors do not severely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Overall, the harbour underwent considerable redevelopment, with several facilities being removed or relocated...' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, and prepositions (e.g., 'a main road was runniing', 'were placed on the left of it.beside the East', 'on of them was on the North-west and the other were at South end'). Punctuation and capitalization errors are also prevalent throughout the text. These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.