Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 map illustrates the changes that took place in Porth Harbour between 2000 and Today.

Overall , the Porth Harbour underwent considerable development .Particularly, through construction of hotels and cafes. However , the public beach , car park and passenger ferries remained unchanged.

In 2000s, a castle was occupied in the south of the Harbour , while dock , passenger ferries and a public beach was present in the north . followed by private yatches in west and private fishing boats in the south. By Today, No of docks are added in North , with fishing boats area in the west followed by private yatches in the south.

Another significant change was the construction of Hotel. Castle was replaced by Hotel in the east along with a road which connects hotel with the main road .Followed by some cafes and shops are established in front of the hotel to facilitate the customers. While Private beach beside the hotel is now restricted for the guests of hotel only.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad transformation from a harbour with a castle to one featuring a hotel, and you note the relocation of the marina and fishing boats. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: the public beach, car parks and passenger ferries did not all remain unchanged in the way implied, and the car parks and facilities are not described in enough detail. Some locations are also misreported: the marina was in the northern basin in 2000, not the west, and the fishing boats were south of it, not simply “in the south.” You mention the new hotel and private beach, but omit other key changes such as the added showers and toilets and the expanded dock arrangement. Select the main changes more accurately and compare their locations clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing changes. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is uneven, and several linking expressions are used mechanically or do not connect complete ideas. For example, “followed by” begins fragments in both detail paragraphs, while “While Private beach…” is not integrated into a complete sentence. The overview also groups features as unchanged without clearly distinguishing what remained from what was altered. Use a consistent sequence—such as north, central harbour and south—and connect each comparison directly to its location. This would make the organisation clearer and reduce reliance on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “replaced,” “construction,” “restricted” and “connects,” and these help convey the broad redevelopment. However, the range is limited and several choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the spatial information unclear. “Private yatches” is misspelled and does not match the map’s label “Marina (private yachts),” while “No of docks are added” is an awkward way to describe the additional jetty and boats. “Castle was occupied” also does not express that the disused castle was replaced. Aim for precise terms such as “relocated,” “converted into,” “harbour entrance” and “additional jetty,” and check spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts to combine ideas using clauses and prepositional phrases, but sentence control is inconsistent, and several sentences are fragments or contain agreement and tense errors. For example, “a public beach was present” groups singular and plural features awkwardly, while “followed by private…” is not a complete clause. “By Today, No of docks are added” has incorrect tense and sentence construction, and “Followed by some cafes and shops are established” combines two incompatible structures. Punctuation and capitalisation are also unreliable, as in “Overall ,” and “.Particularly”. Use complete past-tense sentences to describe 2000 and present-tense or present-perfect forms for today, checking subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries.

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