Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-18

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 6.0)

The maps present the old version of the porth harbour and the changes occur in the harbour after 2000.

Overall, the area of marina private yachts and fishing boats are replaced with each other. There is the addition of a cafe and shops, showers and toilets, and a dock. Castle is rebuild into the hotel.

In 2000, there was one dock beside the public beach and passenger ferries, a new dock is now developed to the left of the old dock. Moreover, there was two car parkings; one was in the northwest, showers and toilets area was near this parking area, and the other parking was in southwest, with no showers and toilets area. After 2000, a similar showers and toilets area is build near the southwest parking.

Fishing boats and marina (private yachts) are now interchanged with each other. Furthermore, cafe and shops are also constructed in the south, left to the lifeboat. Road is in the same place, there was a disused castle in 2000, which is now transformed into the hotel. Public beach is now called as private beach, and the hotel property.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main transformation clearly: the marina and fishing-boat areas exchange locations, the disused castle becomes a hotel, and new facilities appear. You also compare the two car parks and note that the southern beach becomes private, while the north-eastern public beach remains. These details address the task and give a clear overall picture. Some descriptions, however, are imprecise or inaccurate: the new jetty is described as a dock, and the original dock is said to be beside the public beach, although it is at the harbour entrance. The cafés and shops are placed “in the south,” rather than beside the lifeboat along the road. More precise location reporting and a fuller account of the harbour entrance changes would strengthen the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing changes. The overview usefully groups the exchange of the marina and fishing boats with the new hotel and facilities. However, progression within the detail paragraph is uneven, and some links between ideas are unclear. For example, “a new dock is now developed to the left of the old dock” is followed by the car-park changes, then the area exchange, without a consistent spatial or chronological pattern. “Moreover,” “After 2000,” and “Furthermore” provide basic connections, but some feel mechanical. Organise the details by location or by major change, and use clearer references to distinguish the dock, jetty, and harbour areas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “northwest,” “southwest,” “interchanged,” “disused castle,” and “transformed,” so the reader can understand most of the changes. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “old version,” “car parkings,” “a similar showers and toilets area,” and “called as private beach.” “A new dock” also mislabels the added jetty. These choices limit precision and make parts of the description less natural. Aim for standard map-reporting phrases such as “the former layout,” “car parks,” “a second facilities block,” and “was redesignated as a private beach.” Check spelling and capitalisation of place names, including “Porth Harbour.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons and relative clauses, but grammatical control is inconsistent. Errors include subject–verb agreement in “the area … and fishing boats are replaced,” the past-tense form “Castle is rebuild,” and the construction “Public beach is now called as private beach.” There are also article and number problems in “there was two car parkings” and “a similar showers and toilets area is build.” Tense shifts between past and present also make the timeline less clear. These errors do not prevent the reader from following the main changes, but they occur across several sentence patterns. Practise consistent past-tense descriptions of the earlier map and accurate present-tense descriptions of the current one.

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.