Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-02
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 maps illustrates the plan of Porth harbour in year 2000 and now.
Overall, there is major significant changes in shouth-east side. there also changes in dock areas and west area
The Marina for private yachts and fishing boat area swaped their place now. In the south side cafes and shops are added andin the north side anothe dock added. In shouth east side there was disused castle and public beach in 2000 but now it is replaced by a hotel and private beach for hotel. The car parking area attached to another road in now attached with main road and also showers and tolets added up to there. Another road made which connect hotel.
there was no changes in north side showers and tolets and car parking area. North east side public beach is also remained as it is. Passenger farries location does not changed now. There is no change in lifeboat area.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of Porth harbour in 2000 and comparing them with today's layout. You have identified key changes, such as the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, the addition of cafes and shops, and the transformation of the disused castle into a hotel with a private beach. However, some areas are described with a lack of full clarity or under-development, such as the specific changes to the dock and road networks. To move to a higher band, you should ensure that all significant transformations are explained thoroughly, providing a more balanced coverage across the entire visual without missing minor details.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable attempt to group information geographically and chronologically, starting with an overview sentence. However, the progression is somewhat disrupted by a lack of proper paragraphing, as the text is clumped into dense blocks without logical separation between the overview, body details, and concluding observations. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes mechanical, relying heavily on basic transition phrases and repetitive referencing like 'there was' or 'now'. To achieve a higher score, you should organize your response into distinct, well-structured paragraphs and use a wider variety of cohesive devices to guide the reader smoothly through the comparisons.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'marina', 'fishing boats', 'disused castle', and 'private beach'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the response, such as 'shouth-east' instead of 'southeast', 'swaped' instead of 'swapped', 'anothe' instead of 'another', 'tolets' instead of 'toilets', and 'farries' instead of 'ferries'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips do not severely impede communication, but they restrict your score. To reach a higher band, you need to expand your lexical repertoire, use less common vocabulary with greater precision, and eliminate basic spelling mistakes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage, pluralization, verb tenses, and prepositions, such as 'The maps illustrates' (subject-verb agreement), 'in year 2000' (preposition error), 'major significant changes' (redundancy), and missing articles before nouns like 'hotel' and 'main road'. While these errors rarely completely obscure your meaning, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve your grammatical range and accuracy, focus on subject-verb agreement, proper article selection, accurate prepositional use, and careful proofreading of your completed sentences.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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