Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-13
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 maps illustrates the condition of harbour in 2000 and how it looks today .
Overall, the area underwent significant changes with road extend towards east. New facilities are added and some existing ones are removed .
In 2000, the main road was connected only with one car park but today it js attached to two car parks . Showers&toilet is at the same place and new shower&toilet is built near the car park . Public and private beach are unchanged . The castle is demolished and the hotel is built on its place .
The road was connected to car park and lifeboat in 2000 but today it is unconnected to car park and attached with only lifeboat and new hotel. Fishing boats and marina are swooped with each other. cafe and shops are established near lifeboats . passenger ferries are at same location however, the dock is doubled .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You identify several important changes, including the hotel replacing the castle, the marina and fishing-boat areas switching locations, and cafés and shops being added. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the beaches are not both unchanged, since the southern beach becomes private, and the dock is not simply “doubled”; it gains an additional jetty and has two boats. The overview mentions the road extending east, but this is not a clear main change in the plans. The response is also 7 words below the 150-word minimum; the 8 words copied from the task prompt were excluded from the count. Add a fuller, accurate overview and describe the key changes more precisely.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response has a basic structure, with an opening, an overview and two detail sections, and it uses time markers such as “In 2000” and “today” to compare the plans. However, progression between features is not consistently clear. The sentence “Public and private beach are unchanged” combines two different beach changes and makes the comparison confusing, while “The road was connected to car park and lifeboat” is difficult to follow. Several details are crowded into one paragraph, and linking is limited, so the reader must work to understand how the locations relate. Grouping changes by area or by what was added, removed and relocated, and using clearer comparison phrases, would improve the organisation.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
You use relevant map vocabulary, including “car park,” “lifeboat,” “marina,” and “demolished,” so the reader can identify many of the features being compared. However, the range is limited and some choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes obscures meaning. “The road was connected” does not clearly describe its route, “swooped” is not the right word for the marina and fishing boats changing places, and “the dock is doubled” is imprecise. There are also spelling and form issues, such as “cafe” and “js.” Aim for precise verbs for map changes—such as “relocated,” “replaced,” and “extended”—and check spelling and collocations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
Most sentences are simple, and the response attempts some comparison structures, but grammatical errors occur frequently and can make relationships between features unclear. For example, “The maps illustrates” has subject–verb disagreement, while “condition of harbour” is missing an article. In “Public and private beach are unchanged,” the plural subject requires a plural verb, and the sentence does not express the intended change accurately. Articles and number are also inconsistent in phrases such as “connected to car park” and “near lifeboats.” Punctuation and spacing around full stops are uneven. Practise accurate simple comparisons first, then add controlled clauses using “whereas” or “while” to show changes between the two plans.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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