Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-05

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 map diagram displays a habour in 2000 and compared its current situation looks.

Overall, it is clearly seen that the habour has become considerably alter. the main change is in near of the main roads east sides. while castle disused has replaced by hotel , cafe and shops, dock have been added.

In 2000, there was a marina for private yachts in the north wastern part of the habour, while fishing boats were located in the south west . today, these two areas have changed places , the fishing boats aree now in the north west , ant the marina for private yatchts in thee south west.

There were showers and toilets and two car parks near the main road in 2000. these facilities are still present today. Although another shower and toilet block has been added. A new cafes and shops area has also beside thee road , ferry and dockare still in the eastern part of the habour .finally, the discussed cattle area has been replaced by a hotel and public beach ha become a private beach for residents.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two maps. An overview is attempted right at the beginning, noting that the harbour has undergone considerable alterations. Key developments are successfully identified, such as the swapping of the marina and fishing boats locations, the addition of new cafés and shops, and the replacement of the disused castle with a hotel and a private beach. However, some areas of the response are slightly under-developed or lack complete clarity, such as the precise reporting of the ferry and dock changes, which prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, with a clear attempt to structure the response into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the spatial changes. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transition between ideas can be abrupt, and referencing is not always clear, as seen in repetitive sentence openings and basic linking. Paragraphing is attempted, but formatting and division within the body are somewhat disjointed and inconsistent. While the logical progression is generally discernible, the mechanical use of cohesive devices and occasional lapses in referencing keep the response at this level.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'marina', 'fishing boats', 'ferries', and 'hotel'. There are, however, noticeable word-choice and spelling errors throughout the text, including 'habour' instead of harbour, 'alter' instead of altered, 'wastern' instead of western, 'ant' instead of and, 'yatchts' instead of yachts, and 'discussed' instead of disused. Although these lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips occur, they do not severely impede communication, as the general meaning remains clear to the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complex structures are often accompanied by errors. Punctuation and capitalization are inconsistent, with many sentences lacking proper capital letters at the beginning and containing awkward internal punctuation. There are also frequent issues with articles, prepositions, and verb forms, such as 'compared its current situation looks', 'castle disused has replaced by hotel', and 'public beach ha become'. Despite these recurring grammatical errors, they rarely impede overall communication, and a basic mix of structures is successfully maintained.

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