Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-01
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 provided diagram illustrate the essential changes made in harbour and how it look diffrent today from back in 2000.
There are some big changes along with minor changes, redesign the look of porth harbour. The very big difference is turning unused castle into hotel along with marking the side public beach as private property for the use of hotel residents.
The area of Dock became wider than that was in 2000, now used to keep boats. The areas like car park, marina private yachts, fishing boats and showers & toilets reamin unchanges. The Marina private yachts and fihing boats replaces with each other while the addition fo One more shower & toilet at the north side of the car park are located near the castle road.
Cafes and shops are introduces by using the free spance fo catle area next to the lifeboat for brakefasts and groceries.
The car park area attached with castle raod previously, linked with main road nowadays.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response attempts to address all parts of the task by reporting the main features of Porth Harbour in 2000 and today, noting developments such as the castle becoming a hotel and the relocation of the marina and fishing boats. However, some areas are under-developed or inaccurately described. For instance, the statement that the car park areas, marina, fishing boats and showers remain unchanged contradicts the visual data, which shows several modifications and additions. Furthermore, details such as the specific changes to the dock entrance and the addition of cafés and shops are mentioned but lack full extension. The overview is somewhat basic, but the response does manage to outline the general nature of the transformation.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
There is a basic overall arrangement of ideas, but progression is limited and the structure feels disjointed due to poor paragraphing and abrupt transitions. The response lacks a clear introduction and conclusion, grouping disparate details together into a short, blocky format. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive or mechanical, such as the frequent use of 'along with' and 'while'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, making it harder for the reader to follow the spatial relationships between the features on the two maps without confusion. To improve, the text would need a clearer organizational structure with a dedicated overview paragraph and logical grouping of spatial changes.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to employ less common items such as 'transformations', 'relocated', and 'redesign'. However, there are numerous lexical and word-choice inaccuracies throughout the text, including spelling mistakes like 'diffrent', 'reamin', 'unchanges', 'fihing', 'replaces', 'fo', 'catle', 'brakefasts', and 'raod'. Expressions like 'turning unused castle into hotel' and 'marking the side public beach as private property' lack precise collocation and natural phrasing. While these errors do not completely impede overall communication, they restrict the lexical score because of the frequency of spelling slips and non-standard word formations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The area of Dock became wider than that was in 2000, now used to keep boats.' However, control over grammar and sentence structures is inconsistent. There are frequent errors involving missing or incorrect articles ('the essential changes made in harbour', 'turning unused castle into hotel', 'at the north side of the car park'), awkward relative clauses ('that was in 2000'), and faulty prepositions ('attached with castle raod'). Punctuation and verb tense shifts also create awkward pauses. While simple sentences are generally understandable, attempts at complex structures frequently result in noticeable errors that require the reader to slow down.
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