Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The maps illustrate the various changes made to Porth Harbour between 2000 and the present day.

Overall, the area underwent a lot of alterations. New toilet showers were added between car parks. The area of Marina (private yachts) and fishing boats were interchanged with eachother. Castle was demolished and transformed into hotel. While cafe and shops were added beside lifeboat.

Starting with the north-western area, new showers and toilets were introduced between car parks. Whereas, Marina (private yachts) was replaced by fishing boats. In contrast, car park remained the same. Meanwhile, docks were expanded in the north-eastern area with the addition of new boats. While, public beach remained unchanged.

Turning to the South-eastern area, fishing boats were transformed into Marina. While new cafe and shops were constructed beside lifeboat. Meanwhile, castle ( disused) was converted into hotel. Whereas, public beach was transformed into private beach specifically foe the hotel. In addition, the road remained unchanged.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main overall changes: the marina and fishing-boat areas switch places, the disused castle becomes a hotel, and the southern beach becomes private. You also report the added cafés and shops and changes at the dock, so the response addresses the key features and gives a clear overview. Most details match the plans, including the unchanged north-eastern public beach and road. To make the account more fully developed, clarify the north-west changes: the current plan shows showers and toilets and a car park beside the fishing-boat area, while another showers-and-toilets block and car park are added near the marina. The statement that showers were added “between car parks” is less precise than the map, and the dock changes could specify the additional jetty as well as the boats.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction and overview are followed by descriptions of the northern and southern areas. This gives the reader a generally logical route through the comparison, and phrases such as “Starting with” and “Turning to” help signal shifts. However, progression is weakened by repeated, sometimes awkwardly placed contrast markers. For example, “Whereas” and “While” begin several sentences without a complete main clause, and “Meanwhile” is used where a clearer link between features would help. The overview also groups changes together without a clear spatial sequence. To strengthen cohesion, organise each body paragraph around a map area and connect complete sentences with fewer, more precise transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “interchanged,” “expanded,” “remained unchanged,” and “converted into,” which helps describe changes rather than merely list labels. Meaning is generally clear, but some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “a lot of alterations” is broad, “new toilet showers” is not the map’s label, and “docks were expanded” overstates what is shown—the dock has an additional jetty. There are also spelling and form slips, including “eachother” and “foe,” and inconsistent forms such as “cafe.” Aim for precise map vocabulary and accurate collocations, for example “facilities were added,” “the dock was extended with another jetty,” and “the marina was relocated.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex forms, including a present-perfect opening and clauses introduced by “while” and “whereas.” However, several sentences are fragments because these subordinating words are used without a main clause: “While cafe and shops were added beside lifeboat” and “Whereas, public beach was transformed…” The sentence “The area of Marina … and fishing boats were interchanged” also has a subject–verb agreement problem, and articles are often missing before singular countable nouns, as in “Castle was demolished” and “beside lifeboat.” Punctuation after introductory “Whereas” is also inappropriate. Build complete sentences by joining each contrast to a main clause, and check articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries.

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

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