Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The maps illutrate the structural changes that took place in the Porth Harbour between year 2000 and present day.

Overall, the Porth Harbour underwent moderate transformation during the given tenure. The most notable development was the replacement of castle by new hotel, along with the addition of some new features and renovation of some old ones.

In 2000, the Porth harbour was characterised by different facilities along the coast. Access to to it was provided via main road situated to the west. Additionally, there was a bathroom on the nothwestern side along the roads, adjacent to two car parking spaces to the southern side of it. Moreover, there was a private yachts space in water along with fishing boats space on its southern side. On the western side, there was docks for passengers ferries with public beach on the nothern side of it.

Furthermore, southern land of coast got abandoned castle right next to a public beach with lifeboats site on the northern side of it.

By the present day, couple of alterations were made to the layout of area. On the most western side there is an addition of new showers and toilets area along with the replacement of fishing boats area and private yachts area with each other. Furthermore, there is an addition new docks on the northern side of coast, along with the addition of cafes and shops adjacent to life boats area on the southern side of coast. Moreover, abandoned castel is replaced by a new hotel, who reserved the public beach next to it only for its customers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of Porth Harbour in 2000 and comparing them with the present-day layout. An appropriate overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the general transformation, including the replacement of the castle with a hotel and various infrastructural additions. Key spatial relationships and relocations—such as the swapping of the fishing boats and the private marina, the expansion of the docks, and the addition of cafés, shops, and hotel-reserved beach areas—are accurately covered. While minor directional details contain slight inaccuracies (for instance, the location of the passenger ferries and docks in 2000), the response adequately covers the required content and provides a clear summary overall, aligning well with Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is logically organised into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview, a description of the 2000 layout, and finally the present-day changes. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'By the present day' are used to guide the reader through the temporal and spatial progression. However, some cohesive links feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally clunky, such as 'each other' when describing the swapped zones. Paragraphing is used sufficiently, and the overall arrangement ensures a coherent progression, supporting a solid Band 6.0 performance.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'structural changes', 'moderate transformation', 'renovation', and 'alterations'. However, there are notable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'illutrate' instead of illustrate, 'nothwestern', 'docks for passengers ferries', 'castel', and the grammatical awkwardness of 'who reserved the public beach'. These lexical errors and typos occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall communication. The range is minimally sufficient for Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and prepositional phrases. There are, however, several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices throughout the essay, such as 'in Porth Harbour between year 2000 and present day' (missing articles), 'Access to to it was provided' (repetition and preposition issues), 'southern land of coast got abandoned castle', and 'hotel, who reserved'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but article omission and prepositions require closer attention. Because errors are frequent enough to cause some distraction while simple structures remain mostly accurate, a band score of 6.0 is appropriate.

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