Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The picture illustrates a renovated Porth harbour today and compares it with the original one from 2000.

Overall, Today's Porth harbour has undergone through some renovations and installed various new facilities for the people, while keeping the original infra-structure same. A hotel, a cafe and a private beach is included in the new plan, whereas, car parks, lifeboat and passenger ferries remaind same in both plans.

In 2000, Porth harbour had a single dock loacted in north region with passenger ferries in the centre. There are two public beaches, one in the north east and the other besides a castle. A castle is built on the south eastern site which is not used. Moreover, there were two car park areas which are loacted near the main road in the west. Shower and toilets were loacted in the north west side, whereas marina for private yachts and fishing boats were loacted near car parks. Furthermore, a lifeboat was their at the end of the road.

In contast, today's Porth has a big hotel which has replaced disused castle and a private beach for hotel members. Moreover, two docks are installed, along with cafes and shops for the visitors. Car parks remained in their previous locations, while another shower area is build near south western car park. Furthermore, fishing boats and marina has just exchanged their places, whereas life boat also remained besides the road.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You successfully cover all key changes shown in the maps, addressing all parts of the task. Your overview correctly highlights the major transformations, such as the addition of the hotel and cafes while noting features that remained unchanged like the car parks and lifeboat station. You select and report the main features well, comparing the 2000 layout with today's configuration. However, some details are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in positioning, such as stating the single dock was located in the 'north region' when it was at the northern harbour entrance. To reach a higher band, ensure every major spatial change and shift (like the swapping of the marina and fishing boats) is described with absolute precision and fully extended analysis.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical four-paragraph structure with an introduction, overview, and separate body paragraphs for past and present features. You use standard cohesive devices to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', and 'In contrast'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes a bit mechanical or repetitive, and paragraph progression could be smoother. For instance, transitional phrases between sentences occasionally feel abrupt, and pronouns are underutilised. To achieve a higher score, you need to manage cohesive devices more flexibly and ensure seamless logical transitions from one spatial feature to the next without relying on formulaic listing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully attempting less common and topic-specific items such as 'renovated', 'infrastructure', and 'disused castle'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that lower the precision of your writing, such as 'infra-structure', 'loacted', 'remaind', 'contast', 'build', and 'life boat'. Additionally, some collocations are slightly awkward, such as 'installed various new facilities' or 'shower area is build'. To improve your lexical score, you must eliminate basic spelling mistakes and use a wider variety of precise, task-appropriate vocabulary with accurate collocations and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You employ a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over past and present tenses ('has undergone', 'had', 'is built'). However, your writing contains several grammatical errors and inaccurate verb forms, such as 'has undergone through' (unnecessary preposition), 'infra-structure same' (missing article), 'A castle is built... which is not used' (tense shift issues), 'lifeboat was their' (confusing there/their), and 'fishing boats and marina has just exchanged' (plural/singular agreement). These errors rarely impede overall communication, but they occur regularly enough to prevent you from reaching the higher bands. To progress, aim for greater accuracy in subject-verb agreement, prepositions, and article usage within complex sentence structures.

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

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