Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The plan illustrates a harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.

Overall, We can see major changes in harbour as compares to today. Before there were no hotels , no cafes and shops but today harbour has developed with many facilities for people and also contain private beach for the hotel.

In 2000 their were many facilities on harbour like passenger ferries , life boat , public beach , showers and toilets , car parks and fishing boats.Previously Harbour cotains only one dock.

Today Harbour has many new facilities like hotels

, private beach ,Two docks , 2 car parks and cafes and shops. The new plan has developed to facilitate the people so they can spend more time on harbour and they can stay in hotel.

If we compare the harbour of 2000 and today it has changes alot and hotels and private beach are very good for people.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two time periods and give a broad overview that the harbour gained facilities, including a hotel and private beach. However, the response only partially reports the map: it does not explain key changes such as the marina and fishing boats switching locations, the added jetty and boats, or the cafés and shops beside the lifeboat station. Some details are inaccurate: the dock is not replaced by “two docks”; it remains one dock with an additional jetty, and the hotel replaces the disused castle. The response also adds unsupported claims about helping visitors stay longer. At 142 words, it is 8 words below the 150-word minimum. Include a clearer overview and select and accurately compare the main changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: an introduction, an overview, a description of the earlier harbour, and a comparison with today. This gives the reader some sense of the task’s structure. However, progression is limited because the same general point—that the harbour has developed—is repeated in the overview and final paragraph, while individual map changes are not grouped or ordered clearly. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “Previously,” and “If we compare” help, but some transitions are awkward and the comparison is not consistently developed. Organise the body by location or by major changes, and use clear references to distinguish the 2000 plan from the present-day plan.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “harbour,” “facilities,” “passenger ferries,” “public beach,” and “private beach,” so the main topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or repetitive, particularly “many new facilities” and “has developed.” Some word choices and forms are inaccurate, such as “cotains” and “life boat,” and “two docks” mislabels the additional jetty. The phrase “good for people” is too general for an academic map summary. Use precise terms for changes and locations—for example, say that the marina was relocated and that a jetty was added—and check spelling and standard collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Most sentences are simple, and attempts to combine ideas are often inaccurate. For example, “Overall, We can see major changes in harbour as compares to today” has problems with capitalisation, article use, and the comparison structure. “Before there were no hotels” is understandable, but “their were many facilities” shows an incorrect verb form, while “Today Harbour has many new facilities like hotels” has inconsistent article and plural use. Punctuation and spacing are also unreliable, with spaces before commas and missing spaces after full stops. These recurring errors sometimes make the relationships between ideas unclear. Practise accurate present and past forms, articles, and sentence boundaries, then use a few controlled complex sentences to compare the two plans.

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

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