Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The map demonstrates a harbour over the period from 2000 to today.

Overall, the most noticeable feature is that there are many showers and car parks today than it was in the 2000. Moreover, there are also cafes and shops on the left side of the lifeboat , which is on the road of the private beach area.In addition the castle was reformed as hotel in today.

In the 2000, the public beach on the north, there were car parks attached with the main road and showers were above the parking lot, the Marina private yacht was on the east side of the parking lot. In contrast, it was rennovated as the fishing boat area in the recent days. In the south of Porth Harbour, below the lifeboat area there were a castle .

However, the main changes were the castle was modified into a hotel , whereas the public beach attached with it turned into a private beach of the hotel. Furthermore, there are two docks on the northern part of beach. Two car park arena expanded from the main road . There is also a and shops beside the lifeboat area, slightly on the northern west area of the hotel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the hotel replacing the castle, the southern beach becoming private, and cafés and shops being added near the lifeboat station. However, the account is only partly complete and some locations or changes are unclear. For example, the marina did not become a fishing-boat area: the fishing boats moved to the northern basin, while the marina moved to the southern water area. The statement about “two docks” is also inaccurate; the northern dock has an additional jetty and two boats. Your overview mentions more showers and car parks, but does not clearly summarise the major relocation of the boats and marina. Select the main changes accurately and describe their positions more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an introduction, an overview and body paragraphs, and you use basic linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In contrast” and “Furthermore.” These provide some organisation, but the progression is difficult to follow because information is repeated or placed in confusing sequences. The castle-to-hotel and beach changes appear in both the overview and the final paragraph, while the description of the 2000 layout is mixed with an unclear comparison. Some references, such as “it” in “it was rennovated,” do not make clear which feature you mean. Group the changes by area or by feature, and use clear references and transitions to distinguish the original layout from today’s.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “harbour,” “lifeboat,” “private beach” and “main road,” so the reader can recognise the topic and several features. However, the range is limited, and some word choices or collocations make descriptions imprecise: “reformed as hotel” is not a natural way to describe the castle’s replacement, and “two car park arena expanded” does not clearly convey the change. There are also spelling errors, including “rennovated,” and awkward phrases such as “in the recent days.” Build a more precise set of verbs for map changes—such as relocated, replaced, added and converted—and check spelling and natural combinations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with contrast, for example, “the castle was modified into a hotel, whereas…” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in articles, agreement, tense and sentence boundaries occur frequently enough to make some details hard to interpret. Examples include “there are many showers and car parks today than it was in the 2000,” “there were a castle,” and the fragment-like “In the 2000, the public beach on the north.” Punctuation and spacing also need attention, as in “area.In addition.” Practise complete comparative sentences and consistent past-versus-present forms, checking that each clause has a clear subject and verb.

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