Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-14

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 figures compare a harbour in 2000 and the same harbour as of today.

Overall, the harbour today is different from 2000 with a new hotel, an additional dock and addition of new cafes and shops along the beach. There are some subtle changes that indicate the growing wealth of the harbour such as today's larger Marina (private yatchs).

The most visible change is the hotel replacing the disused castle from 2000. With the hotel, the public beach just beside it, now becomes a private one,exclusive for the hotel guests. Today, cafes and shops are added to the area beside the lifeboat, accessible by a road that starts from the main road and leads to the hotel and lifeboat. In 2000, there was only a dock for passenger ferries but now there are two docks, indicating the growing number of visitors.

The other changes include the addition of another area for showers and toilets near a larger car park. Moreover, Marina (private yachts) now is in the larger area that used to be for fishing boats, conversely fishing boats now locate in the smaller area that Marina occupied.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You give a clear overview of the harbour’s major development, especially the hotel replacing the disused castle, the beach becoming private, and the relocation of the marina and fishing boats. These are relevant, well-selected comparisons, and the response addresses both time periods. Some details, however, are inaccurate or over-generalised: the northern entrance has an additional jetty, not “two docks,” and the map does not show that the marina is larger or that the changes indicate growing wealth or visitor numbers. The added showers and toilets and the second car park are also mentioned only briefly. For a stronger account, distinguish the dock and its jetties precisely and focus the overview on the main physical changes rather than inferred causes or effects.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall progression: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs describing the southern development and changes to harbour facilities. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Moreover,” and “conversely” help signal relationships between points. This gives the account a coherent arrangement, though cohesion is not always fully controlled. For example, “The other changes include” introduces a list that is not developed evenly, while “conversely” is an awkward fit for the simple relocation contrast. The reference in “With the hotel” also makes the connection between the hotel and the beach slightly abrupt. To strengthen the flow, group changes by location or function and use more precise transitions between each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing map changes, including “replacing,” “accessible,” “addition,” and “occupied,” and the main information remains understandable. There are also attempts at more specific language, such as “disused castle” and “private yachts.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise: “two docks” mislabels the additional jetty, “larger Marina” is unsupported, and “growing wealth” is an inference rather than a map feature. “Yatchs” is misspelled, and “cafes” would conventionally be written “cafés” in this context. Aim for precise map vocabulary and avoid claims about causes or scale that the visual does not establish.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the relative clause in “the public beach just beside it, now becomes a private one” and the contrast in “Marina … now is …, conversely fishing boats now locate…”. Most sentences communicate the intended comparisons, but some grammatical and punctuation errors remain. For example, “the public beach … now becomes” has an unnecessary comma, and “a private one,exclusive” needs a space after the comma. The final sentence would be clearer as “the marina is now in the larger area that used to be occupied by fishing boats, while fishing boats are now in the smaller area previously occupied by the marina.” Continue practising accurate clause connections, articles, and punctuation while retaining varied sentence structures.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.