Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-15

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 5.5)

The illustration gives imformation about the Porth harbour that how it was in 2000 and how it looks today. Overall, nowadays harbour have much facilities than from in 2000.

It is quite evident from the first map that there was two car parkings and only one area for shower and toilet. There was a castle at the end of harbour along with the small public beach in south. There was also a large public beach and a dock in north side where passanger ferries parked. There was a marina for private yachts and fishing boats on the road.

Meanwhile, today there a lot of changes have been done at harbour. There is shift in places the marina for private yachts shifted at fishing boat place and fishing boat shifted at marina. There is also incresed in number of areas for shower and toliets and docks. The castle have been changed into a hotel and the public beach in south side converted into a private beach for the hotel. There have been some cafes and shops opened along with the road.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall change—that the harbour has gained facilities—and report several important transformations, including the marina and fishing boats exchanging locations, the castle becoming a hotel, and the southern beach becoming private. These details are relevant and broadly match the plans. However, some points are unclear or inaccurate: “a large public beach” is not a clear description of the north-eastern beach, and “fishing boats on the road” misplaces them; they are in the water. You also mention an increase in docks, although the plan shows an additional jetty and boats, rather than more docks. To strengthen the summary, give a more precise overview of the harbour’s main changes and describe the northern entrance and facilities accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction and overview are followed by a paragraph about the earlier plan and one about the present layout. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and “Meanwhile” signals the shift to today. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes list-like, and links between changes could be clearer. For example, “There is shift in places the marina… shifted at fishing boat place and fishing boat shifted at marina” repeats the same idea without a clean comparison. Use a more direct sequence, such as grouping changes to water areas, facilities, and the southern shore. More precise referencing and fewer repeated sentence openings with “There was/There is” would also improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary such as “marina,” “private beach,” “castle,” and “cafes and shops,” so the reader can understand the main features. However, the range is limited and several word-choice or spelling problems reduce precision: “car parkings” is not the natural form, “imformation” and “passanger” are misspelled, and “docks” does not accurately describe the added jetty. Phrases such as “a lot of changes have been done” and “shifted at” are also awkward. Aim for accurate map vocabulary and natural collocations, especially when describing locations and changes. A few well-chosen verbs such as “relocated,” “replaced,” and “converted” would make the account more concise and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentences, including a contrast between the two maps, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in agreement, articles, tense, and sentence construction occur in several places. For example, “harbour have much facilities” needs a singular subject and a more suitable noun phrase, while “there was two car parkings” has incorrect agreement. In “today there a lot of changes have been done,” the verb structure is incomplete, and “The castle have been changed” also has faulty agreement and passive construction. Practise forming accurate past and present descriptions, including “there were,” “there are,” and “has been replaced,” and check articles and plural forms. Greater control of these patterns would make your comparisons clearer.

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.