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 maps illustrate the comparison between the porth Harbour in 2000 and porth Harbour how it looks today.

Overall, a lot of changes have been made to the porth Harbour today. Some of the area is replaced with new facilites while some are constructed newly. and also there are a lot of area remaind unchanged.

In 2000, there were Castle which has been replaced with hotel and new shower and toilets have been consutructed near to the main road. The fishing boats have been replaced with Marina (private yachts) and cafes and shops have also been constructed next to the private yachts area.

While the shower and toilets area to the north side and car parking areas remain unchanged but the access of one of the car park has been changed it was before from tha main road but now it is from the link raod to the lifeboat. Overall it developed a lot.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the castle becoming a hotel and the fishing-boat area being converted to a marina. However, the account is only partial and some details are inaccurate or unclear. The new showers and toilets are not simply “near to the main road”: the map shows an additional facilities-and-car-park block beside the marina, while the northern facilities and car park remain. Cafés and shops are beside the lifeboat station, not next to the marina. The claim that a car-park access changed is not supported by the plans. The overview also says many areas remain unchanged without identifying the clearest examples, such as the north-eastern public beach and main road. Select the major changes accurately and compare the two plans more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, with an overview followed by details, and the reader can follow the general topic. However, progression is limited: the overview is vague, and the body moves between the castle, facilities, marina and car-park access without a clear spatial or thematic order. The final “Overall” repeats the general idea of development rather than adding a useful comparison. Linking words such as “While” are used, but the sentence that follows is difficult to track because it combines unchanged facilities with a claim about access. Organise the report around clear groups—for example, changes to the harbour and services, then changes to the southern shore—and use precise references to distinguish what stayed the same from what changed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “replaced,” “constructed,” “car parking areas” and “remain unchanged,” so the reader can recognise the main subject matter. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or repetitive: “a lot of changes,” “area,” and “constructed” recur without specifying the nature of the development. Some phrases are awkward, such as “the access of one of the car park” and “link raod,” and spelling errors including “facilites,” “consutructed” and “remaind” reduce accuracy. Use more precise verbs and location phrases, such as “relocated,” “converted into,” and “adjacent to the lifeboat station.” Check spelling and use standard labels consistently, including “Porth Harbour” and “car park.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts a few longer structures, including “While the shower and toilets area to the north side and car parking areas remain unchanged but…,” but this construction is faulty: “while” and “but” should not be used together in this way, and the subject-verb agreement is unclear. There are also recurring problems with articles, plurals and verb forms, as in “there were Castle,” “some of the area is replaced,” and “a lot of area remaind unchanged.” The opening sentence is awkwardly formed, and the overview contains a sentence fragment beginning “and also.” These errors sometimes make relationships between features difficult to understand. Practise accurate past-to-present comparisons, for example, “The disused castle has been replaced by a hotel,” and build longer sentences from correctly joined clauses.

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

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