Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-17

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 plans give information about the physcial layout of a harbour in the year 2000 and in the present day.

Overall, the harbour has an upgrade with the facilities for the visitors with construction of cafes and shops alongside the addition of showers and toilets. The unused castle is turned into a hotel, which privatised its locality, and the fishing boat area is interchanged with the marina.

Cafe and shops are constructed near the road to the hotel, and a shower and toilet area has been newly created. The number of docks is 2 while it was 1 in 2000, and the number of ferries increased from 2 to 3. The disused castle has been converted into a hotel, and the southern public beach has been privatised. The location of fishing boats and the marina, where private yatchs are kept, is interchanged.

Major areas like the northern public beach, upper shower and toilets, both of the car parks alongside the location of life boat has been unchanged during the years. The side road and the main road, which is in the western side of the plan, are where they were earlier.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main changes clearly: the marina and fishing-boat areas switch places, the disused castle becomes a hotel, and the southern beach becomes private. Your overview also captures the general addition of visitor facilities, and most reported locations are consistent with the plans. However, some details are inaccurate or insufficiently supported: the maps show an additional jetty and two boats at the dock, not “2” docks, and the transcription does not show passenger ferries increasing from two to three. The statement that both car parks and the lifeboat location are unchanged also overlooks the added south-west facilities and cafés and shops beside the lifeboat. More precise selection and reporting of these changes would strengthen an otherwise clear account.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is organised into an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs, giving it a clear overall shape. The overview usefully previews the main transformations, and phrases such as “Overall” and “Major areas” help signal the stages of the description. The progression is not fully controlled, however: the second paragraph repeats several points from the overview, while the final paragraph groups unchanged features without clearly contrasting them with the new developments. Some references, such as “its locality” and “where they were earlier,” are also vague. To move further, organise details by area or by changed versus unchanged features, and use clearer links between each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of map-description vocabulary, including “converted,” “privatised,” “interchanged,” and “alongside,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “physcial layout” and “facilities for the visitors,” though these are not always natural or accurate. Spelling errors in “physcial,” “yatchs,” and “life boat” reduce precision, while “the number of docks” mislabels the additional jetty and “ferries increased” is not supported by the map. Aim for accurate, conventional terms for map features and avoid using a sophisticated-sounding word when a simpler, exact description is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple sentences and more complex structures, including the relative clause in “the main road, which is in the western side of the plan” and the comparison “while it was 1 in 2000.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors affect accuracy. For example, “the harbour has an upgrade” uses an unsuitable tense and construction for describing completed changes; “which privatised its locality” has an unclear reference; and “both of the car parks alongside the location of life boat has been unchanged” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The phrase “in the western side” also needs a different preposition. Review tense choice, agreement in long subjects, and clause references while retaining your varied sentence forms.

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