Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-09

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 plans shows that the transformation of harbour in 2000 and how it looks now.

Overall, we can see that castle in south-east corner that later change into hotel and car park and toilet remain at same place over the period and one main road on the west side.

Firstly, in 2000 the porth harbour have two parking connected too the main road one at west side also include toillets, while on the right side of toilets there is a marina and second parking at east-southern corner.There is one public beach at north-east corner. In addition, two passenger boates near the big dock at north.In the middle , a lifeboar connect with main road though a narrow raod. castle in south-east coner and one anther public beach near it.

In prsent, castle is change into hotel and the public beach change into private beach is only for hotel residents.On the north side, big dock converted into two small duck. Morover, north-west corner toilets and car parking is at same place, while one introduced a new toilets area near the second parking. cafes and shops open near the lifeboat. Remaing things are at same place.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the castle becoming a hotel, the southern beach becoming private, and cafés and shops being added near the lifeboat. You also give an overview, but it is not fully accurate: the car parks and toilets do not simply remain in the same places, as a second showers-and-toilets block is added beside the marina. The statement that the northern dock became “two small duck” is unclear and does not accurately describe the change: an additional jetty and a second berthed boat are shown. You also miss the key exchange of locations between the marina and fishing boats. Select the major changes more precisely and explain them clearly to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the earlier and current layouts. This gives the reader a basic chronological progression, and linking phrases such as “Firstly,” “In addition,” and “In present” help signal movement between points. However, the overview combines several details without clearly identifying the most significant changes, and the body paragraphs sometimes list features in a confusing order. For example, the description of the marina, toilets, and second car park is difficult to follow spatially. Some transitions are mechanical or unclear, and “Remaining things are at same place” is too vague to connect the comparison effectively. Grouping changes by area and using clearer references would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “harbour,” “marina,” “public beach,” “main road,” and “lifeboat,” and you attempt to describe change with phrases such as “change into” and “converted into.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or spellings make the meaning unclear. “Two small duck” appears to mean two docks, although the map shows an additional jetty and two boats; “parking” is less precise than “car park,” and “toillets” is misspelled. There are also awkward phrases such as “castle in south-east corner that later change into hotel.” Use accurate labels from the map and practise collocations such as “was replaced by” and “was relocated to.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, including clauses linked with “while” and “which,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement and verb forms appear in “The plans shows,” “the harbour have,” and “castle … later change into hotel.” Articles and plurals are also often missing or inaccurate, as in “a marina,” “two parking,” and “near the big dock at north.” Some sentence boundaries and punctuation are faulty, particularly where a full stop is followed immediately by “There” or “castle.” These problems sometimes make relationships between features difficult to understand. Practise accurate past and present passive forms, such as “was converted into,” and check subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.