Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-07

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 4.5)

The two diagram depicts how a porth harbour situated in the east of main road has devevloped since the year 2000.

Overall, despite some features remaining the same, the small castle has transformed into modern hotel, with the significant changes in public beach and cafe & Shops.

In 2000, the marina lay to the north of the Sea, with being located in the north west of Passenger ferries of the sea. There were two car park, shower & toilets in the west side of the main road. In the east side of the sea, there is dock.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the broad time comparison and notes one genuine major change: the disused castle became a hotel. However, it reports very few of the map’s key developments, and the overview’s claim about changes to the public beach is unclear: the north-eastern beach remains public, while the southern beach becomes private. Some locations are also inaccurate or confusing, such as placing the marina “in the north west of Passenger ferries” and saying the car parks and facilities were west of the main road, when they are on the harbour side of it. The response is also 53 words below the required minimum, leaving little room to summarise the important changes. Include the relocation of the marina and fishing boats, new facilities, and the beach’s changed status.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure: an opening statement, an overview, and a paragraph about the 2000 layout. This gives the reader some sense of the response’s purpose, and “Overall” signals a summary. However, the account stops before describing the harbour today, so there is no clear progression through the comparison or coverage of both maps. Connections within sentences are also awkward, as in “with being located in the north west of Passenger ferries of the sea,” which makes the relationship between features difficult to follow. Organise the response into a concise overview followed by a paragraph comparing the main changes, using clear location references such as north/south and before/now.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant map vocabulary, including “marina,” “dock,” “car park,” and “public beach,” and attempts to describe location and change. However, the range is limited, and several choices or forms are inaccurate or unclear: “the east of main road,” “north west of Passenger ferries,” and “significant changes in public beach” do not express the intended relationships naturally. Spelling and capitalisation are inconsistent, including “devevloped” and “cafe & Shops.” Use precise, reusable language for map comparisons, such as “to the east of the main road,” “was relocated to,” and “was converted into.” This would make the limited description clearer and more appropriate to an academic summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts a range of sentence forms, including an overview sentence beginning “despite” and a location sentence using “with.” However, these attempts are often faulty, and basic agreement and article errors occur: “The two diagram depicts” should be “The two diagrams depict,” while “a porth harbour” needs more accurate article and capitalisation choices. The phrase “with being located” is not a complete or well-formed construction, and “There were two car park” has incorrect plural agreement. Tense also shifts from past (“lay”) to present (“there is”) when describing the 2000 map. Use consistent past tense for the earlier plan and check subject–verb agreement, plurals, and sentence construction.

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

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