Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-06

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 6.5)

The diagram below depicts what the harbour looked like in 2000 and today.

Overall, there have been significant changes seen in the Porth Habour today that were not present in 2000. Major changes like building of docks and renovation of the abandoned castle can been seen, with a private beach that was public before. Furthermore, position of marina and fishing boats have been switched. Lastly, facilities like café and shops are introduced as of today at the harbour.

One grand change that was brought to the harbour was the renovation of the castle into a hotel. Along with this, the public beach, in its West, also became the hotel's private beach. Furthermore, the number of docks were increased. These changes have significantly altered the structure of Porth Habour from its design that was in 2000.

Along with these changes, in 2000, the position of fishing boats was at the North, while marina (private yachts) were located in the south. Today, their positioned have swapped. Furthermore, the diagram also depictics the establishment of resources like café and shops next to the lifeboats. Lastly, instead of one, the harbour now has two places showers and toilets area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by identifying the main developments and making relevant comparisons between the two maps, such as the swapping of the marina and fishing boats, and the conversion of the castle into a hotel. An overview is present at the beginning, highlighting the most significant alterations. While the main features are clearly reported, some ideas are slightly extended or generalised rather than fully detailed, which places the response at this level. The selection of information is generally accurate and effectively grounded in the provided visual data, successfully demonstrating a clear understanding of the spatial changes over time without any significant omissions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the introductory overview to the body paragraphs detailing specific structural changes. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct conceptual areas, such as the hotel conversion and the swapping of the harbour functions. However, referencing and cohesion can occasionally feel somewhat mechanical or repetitive, with frequent reliance on transition words like 'Furthermore' and 'Lastly' at the beginning of sentences. While the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, the management of cohesive devices lacks the flexibility and subtlety required for a higher band score.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating the intended changes with terms such as 'renovation', 'altruered', and 'establishment'. The student attempts some less common lexical items, though there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and spelling, such as 'Habour' instead of 'Harbour', 'depictics' instead of 'depicts', and the awkward phrase 'grand change'. These lexical errors and awkward phrasings do not impede overall communication, but they reflect a limited precision and occasional lack of control that restrict the score to this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as passive voice ('were increased', 'are introduced') and subordinate clauses effectively. However, there are several grammatical errors regarding subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'position of marina and fishing boats have been switched', 'their positioned have swapped', and 'places showers and toilets area'. Punctuation and sentence structures generally allow the message to be understood without causing significant difficulty for the reader, but the persistence of these grammatical inaccuracies prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

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