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 plan below illustrates the a map of a harbour in 2000 and in present day.
Overall, it is evident that harbor has undergone major modernization, transitioning from purely simple into modernize area featuring multiple facilities and activites making it perfect tourist spot.
In old plan of harbour on the north east side we have public beach, dock surrounded by passenger feries. Moreover on the west side we have main road and connecting to main road we have car parking. Besides the car parking we have showers and toilets area and space for Marina's private yatches. On the east south area we have castle disused and behind castle we have public beach and lifeboats near castle at the centre which connects the road from main road from south west. Moreover on the west south region we have another car parking which connects the road going to the lifeboat, and beside the car parking we have fishing boats.
However, in the modern artitecture of harbour, castle has been replaced by hotel and the road which was connecting to lifeboat only now connects to the hotel also. Moreover, besides lifeboats cafes and shops has also been developed for shopping. Additionally, two dock areas have been developed instead of one for keeping passenger ferris.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses the task partially by outlining some of the main changes between the two maps, but it fails to present a fully developed overview and contains inaccuracies in reporting specific features. For instance, the student states that 'two dock areas have been developed instead of one', whereas the visual data shows that the northern dock has an additional jetty rather than a second dock being built. Furthermore, the description of spatial locations and transformations is sometimes confusing, such as misidentifying the relocation of the marina and fishing boats. While the overview attempts to summarise the general trend of modernization, it remains superficial and lacks clarity in selecting and contrasting the most significant spatial shifts.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response shows some organization with basic paragraphing and an introductory overview, but it lacks a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are used repeatedly and somewhat mechanically, with excessive reliance on words like 'moreover' and 'besides' to link sentences. Referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult to follow the spatial relationships between the various features described on the maps. While the text is divided into paragraphs, the internal cohesion within paragraphs suffers from a lack of smooth transitions, resulting in a somewhat disjointed flow of information.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'modernization', 'architecture', and 'tourist spot', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'feries', 'yatches', 'artitecture', and 'ferris'. Expressions like 'purely simple into modernize area' lack appropriate word formation and collocation. These lexical slips and inaccuracies sometimes impede communication and prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response exhibits a limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and repetitive patterns like 'we have' or 'there is'. Attempts at more complex sentence forms often result in faulty structures, such as run-on clauses and missing prepositions. There are frequent errors in articles ('the a map', 'in old plan'), subject-verb agreement, and prepositions ('on the west south area'). These errors occur frequently throughout the text, causing some difficulty for the reader and reflecting a restricted control over grammatical accuracy.
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