Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-08

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 maps illustrate the layout of Porth Harbor before and after the redevelopment between 2000 and current.

Overall, a port underwent substantial changes, with several new recreational facilities being introduced, some existing features being relocated or replaced, while some original amenities remained unchanged, making the overall layout more modern and functional.

Regarding in 2000, on the western side of the port contains showers and toilets, two areas for car parking which linked to main road, fishing boats, and marina for private yachts. Additionally, public beach and one dock for passenger ferries located on the northern part of the port. Moreover, private beach, lifeboat and castle were situated on the south-east corner.

At present, new showers and toilets were introduced besides car park, whereas fishing boats and marina switched there places. Additional dock has been installed to make it more functional. The castle was converted into hotel and private beach is used hotel guests and Cafes and shops were built besides lifeboat. Overall making the whole place more convenient, accessible.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You provide a relevant overview of the redevelopment, noting new recreational facilities, relocated features and the hotel replacing the castle. You also identify several key changes, including the marina and fishing boats switching locations and cafés and shops being added. This covers the main purpose of the task, though some details are incomplete or inaccurate: the 2000 beach beside the castle was public, not private, and the northern dock already existed; today it has an additional jetty and two boats. The description of the original layout is also unclear about where the facilities were situated. To strengthen the response, compare the north and south areas more precisely and distinguish features that remained, such as the north-eastern public beach, from those that changed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by descriptions of the earlier and current layouts. Time markers such as “Regarding in 2000” and “At present” help signal the comparison, and the main changes are presented in a broadly logical order. However, some links between ideas are awkward or unclear. For example, “Moreover, private beach, lifeboat and castle were situated on the south-east corner” groups features without explaining their different positions, while the final sentence fragment beginning “Overall making” weakens the ending. Use clearer location-based sequencing and connect each change directly to its earlier position. This would make the progression more precise and cohesion less dependent on basic time markers.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “redevelopment,” “recreational facilities,” “relocated,” and “converted,” which helps describe the harbour’s transformation. Most of the intended meaning is understandable, and you attempt some less common wording. However, several choices are imprecise or awkward: “switched there places” does not express the relocation naturally, and “private beach is used hotel guests” is not an appropriate collocation. “Additional dock” is also inaccurate because the map shows an additional jetty at the existing dock. Aim for precise map vocabulary such as “moved,” “replaced,” “adjacent to,” and “the dock was extended with another jetty.” Check spelling and possessive forms, including “Harbor” versus the map’s “Harbour” and “cafés.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview clause “with several new recreational facilities being introduced” and the contrast between features that changed and those that remained. However, some grammatical errors are noticeable and occasionally make relationships difficult to follow. For example, “Regarding in 2000” has an unnecessary preposition, and “on the western side of the port contains” lacks a clear subject and has faulty sentence structure. In “private beach is used hotel guests,” the passive construction is incomplete; “the private beach is now used by hotel guests” would be grammatical. The final “Overall making…” is a fragment. Practise complete clauses, articles and prepositions, while retaining your attempts at varied sentence structures.

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