Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The map illustrates, the changes that took place in harbour in 2000 and recently.

Overall, many types of changes took place in recently years, like modification of new places and many new lands devolpe like, the private beach and hotel.

In the 20th century, the road goes straight and split into two distinct branches, one goes to car parking near to showers,toilets, and marine private yart for the special time, However the second road goes to life boat side in the east and , Moreover there is also dock boat on the northen site of the harbour island, also the fishinng boats on the west side

At present, northern area is professional spot, firstly noticeable thing is that fishing boats took placed the place of marin and viceversa, cafe's shops is created near to the raod above the road side and on the side od custle disused the hotel is constructed, Morover, the public beach is convert into the private beackh, furthermore, all the other things remained same

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to describe the changes shown in the maps, but it only partially addresses the task requirements. While it mentions several alterations such as the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, the addition of a hotel, and the conversion of the public beach into a private one, the selection of features is incomplete and lacks precision. Important spatial relationships and comparative details are missed or poorly described, such as the overall transformation of the coastal amenities and the second set of parking facilities. Furthermore, the overview is somewhat vague and underdeveloped, merely stating that 'many types of changes took place in recently years'. To reach higher bands, the writer needs to provide a clearer, more fully developed overview of the main trends and systematically report all key features with greater factual accuracy.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response shows some basic organisation with an introductory sentence, body paragraphs attempting to contrast the past and present, and a concluding statement. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the logical flow is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and confusing sentence boundaries, such as the run-on sentence starting with 'one goes to car parking near to showers'. Cohesive devices are used rather mechanically and sometimes inaccurately, as seen in the excessive use of commas and awkward connectors like 'Moreover, the public beach is convert into'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak, making it difficult for the reader to follow the spatial comparisons smoothly. To improve, the writer needs to group related information logically, use a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices, and ensure that referencing between ideas is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task, with noticeable errors that occasionally impede communication. The student attempts some less common terms related to the visual data, such as 'marine private yart' (yachts) and 'fishinng boats', but these attempts are marred by frequent spelling errors, incorrect word forms, and non-standard collocations. Phrases like 'modification of new places' and 'devolpe' demonstrate a restricted control of word choice and word building. Additionally, vocabulary is often repetitive, relying on basic terms to describe locations and transformations. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire, use less common vocabulary with greater precision regarding style and collocation, and eliminate basic spelling and word-choice inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The grammatical structures employed are severely limited, consisting mostly of basic sentences alongside faulty attempts at complex structures. There are frequent, heavy errors across various grammatical categories, including tense usage ('the road goes straight' instead of past tense for the 2000 map), missing or incorrect articles, prepositions within grammatical patterns ('took placed the place of'), and severe punctuation issues such as comma splices. For instance, 'the map illustrates, the changes' and 'cafe's shops is created near to the raod above the road side' contain multiple overlapping errors that cause considerable difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer needs to demonstrate control over basic sentence construction, improve subject-verb agreement, use accurate verb tenses consistently, and reduce the frequency of structural errors that hinder clarity.

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

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