Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The map illustrates Porth harbour in 2000 and how it looks now a days.

Overall, the harbour has changed alot with many new developments. A new hotel with a private beach, which use to be for public. Cafes and shops are a new addition as well as showers and toilets between the two car parking areas.

Porth harbour in 2000 was already a very developed area with two car parking beside the main road. From the south end along the main road, a turn on right turn had a car park. Going along the same road an area appeared with lifeboat, opposite it was a public beach and a castle on the bottom right. Going along the main road taking the second right turn would directly reached the car park, beside it were the showers and toilets, and marina area where private yachts were available. On the east side of marina, was a dock with passenger ferries and a public beach.

Today the porth harbour has developed with a new showers and toilets area on the first car park side going from the south end of the main road. New cafes and shops were developed beside lifeboat. The castle was converted to a hotel and the public beach beside it was made a private beach. The fishing boats and marina interchanges. A new dock was developed with an increase in ferries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear overall picture of the changes between 2000 and today. The key features, such as the conversion of the castle into a hotel, the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, and the addition of new amenities like cafés and shops, are all reported. However, some aspects are under-developed or lack precision. For instance, the description of locations and routes becomes slightly muddled, and minor details are not fully integrated to provide a completely seamless overview. To reach a higher level, the writer should ensure that all comparisons between the two maps are fully extended and clearly structured without relying on vague directional descriptions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and is divided into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for the past and present layouts. Cohesion is present, but it is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases like 'Going along the same road' and 'Going along the main road' are repetitive and indicate a mechanical approach to connecting spatial details. Referencing and paragraph transitions could be smoother and more varied. To improve further, the writer should employ a wider range of cohesive devices and spatial markers to link sentences and clauses naturally, ensuring a clear progression of information across the entire response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to successfully describe the physical features of the harbour and the changes that occurred. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'interchanges' and 'amenities', but these are accompanied by some word-choice and word-form errors, such as 'alot' (spelling), 'now a days' (phrasing), and 'car parking' instead of 'car parks'. These errors do not impede communication, as the reader can easily follow the intended meaning, but they prevent the response from achieving a higher score. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling, appropriate word forms, and natural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like relative clauses and participial phrases. However, there are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies and awkward phrasing, such as 'which use to be for public' instead of 'which used to be public', and 'the fishing boats and marina interchanges' instead of 'swapped places'. Punctuation and article usage also show occasional inaccuracies. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they persist frequently enough to restrict the score at this level. To advance, the writer needs to exercise greater control over verb tense agreement, prepositions, and complex sentence structures.

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

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