Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-12

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 7.0)

The two plans illustrate the layout of a harbour in 2000 and at present.

Overall, the harbour underwent a significant transformation, with the replacement of a disused castle with a hotel, while the fishing boats and the private yachts marina transposed their locations.

In 2000, the Porth Harbour had a public beach for tourists, a life boat, a castle, a dock and passenger ferries. On west side of the harbour, there were showers and toilets, a car park nearby the main road, fishing boats area and a marina of private yachts.

At present, the public beach on the north side, a dock, passenger ferries, a car park, a life boat and a main road remained unchanged from the original site. However, the disused castle was replaced by the hotel and public beach on the southern was converted into private beach used by the hotel. Currently, there were two showers and toilets compared to 2000 when there was only one. The cafes and shops were added adjacent to a lifeboat, whereas, fishing boats and private yachts marina locations were swapped.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response gives a clear overview of the main changes, especially the hotel replacing the disused castle and the marina and fishing-boat areas exchanging locations. It also reports several other relevant developments, including the added cafés and shops and the conversion of the southern public beach to a private hotel beach. This covers the task well and the key comparisons are grounded in the plans. Some details are less precise: the statement that the north-side public beach remained unchanged is inaccurate, as the public beach is shown to the north-east, and the claim that the dock, passenger ferries and car park remained unchanged is broader than the maps support. More precise descriptions of locations and changes would strengthen an already clear summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised into an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing the earlier and current layouts. This gives the reader a clear progression from the main transformation to supporting details, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “At present” and “whereas” help signal comparisons. The final paragraph, however, combines several changes in a long sequence, so the relationship between unchanged features and new developments is not always easy to follow. “Whereas” is also preceded by an unnecessary comma, and “However” creates a contrast that is not clearly established. Grouping the changes by location or by type, and using transitions more selectively, would make the cohesion more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary is adequate for describing a map and includes useful terms such as “underwent a significant transformation,” “replaced,” “converted” and “adjacent.” These choices help communicate the main changes without repetition becoming a major obstacle. There are, however, some imprecise or unnatural expressions: “transposed their locations” is not a natural way to describe the two facilities exchanging positions, and “a marina of private yachts” is less idiomatic than the label used in the plan. “Public beach for tourists” adds an unsupported purpose, while “on the southern” is an incomplete phrase. Greater precision in naming map features and more natural collocations would show stronger control of vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a clear overview sentence with “while” and a comparison using “compared to.” Most meanings remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions persist. For example, “On west side” needs an article, and “the public beach on the north side” would be clearer as “the public beach in the north-east.” The tense in “Currently, there were two showers” is inconsistent with the present-time reference; use “there are.” In “public beach on the southern was converted,” the noun phrase is incomplete, and “a lifeboat” needs an article in “adjacent to a lifeboat” only if referring to the station? More accurately, the map labels a lifeboat station. Improving articles, tense consistency and sentence phrasing would make the range more accurate.

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

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