Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

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

Overall, it is evident that the whole place underwent significant development some places were relocated and other some places were established the major changes was in the hotel and road area and also some new dock has been established.

In 2000, the whole plant was established in bank of sea in south side of the map there was one public beach and next to the beach there was one castle area was located. In the west side of the map thee were so many places there were two park area and just front of the park area there was one showers & toilets area was located.

Today, the whole area was underwent significant development some new dock yard was established and castle area was demolished by hotel and marina private yachts was relocated in the place of fishing boats and.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the two time points and mention several relevant changes, including the marina moving into the former fishing-boat area and the castle being replaced by a hotel. However, the response covers the plans only partially: it omits important changes such as the fishing boats moving to the northern basin, the added facilities and cafés, and the dock’s extra jetty and boats. The overview is also unclear and includes the inaccurate claim that a new dock was established; the dock already existed and was modified. Some locations are misreported, including the beach and castle as being on the south side. The response is 143 words, below the 150-word minimum. Describe the main transformations accurately and add key comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response into an introduction, an overview, and descriptions of 2000 and today. This gives the reader some sense of the intended sequence. However, progression is limited: the first description focuses on a few features, while the final paragraph repeats the general idea of development and ends abruptly with “and.” Linking is often repetitive or unclear, as in “some places were relocated and other some places were established.” Use separate, complete paragraphs for the overview and each map, and group related changes together—for example, changes to the harbour facilities and changes to the southern shore. Clearer referencing would also help readers follow which location is being discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant map vocabulary, including “harbour,” “public beach,” “castle,” “marina,” and “fishing boats,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several phrases are inaccurate or awkward, which makes some details difficult to interpret. “Whole plant” appears to be an incorrect word choice for the harbour area, while “dock yard” and “castle area was demolished by hotel” do not describe the changes naturally. Repetition of “area” and “established” also limits precision. Build a wider set of accurate terms for map changes, such as “was converted into,” “was relocated to,” and “was added,” and check collocations and spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships between features unclear. For example, “the whole place underwent significant development some places were relocated” joins clauses without suitable punctuation, and “the major changes was” has a subject–verb agreement error. The sentence “castle area was demolished by hotel” also has an incomplete article pattern and an unclear passive construction. Tense use shifts between past and present when describing the maps, and the final sentence is unfinished. Practise writing complete, controlled sentences with consistent past-tense descriptions of 2000 and present-tense descriptions of today; use full stops to separate ideas.

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