Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 provided plans illustrate a harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.

In 2000, the porth harbour contained main area for passenger ferries which is in the center. A road linked to the lifeboat on the south side of the harbour. On the left side of showers there was a marina. while on the west side, shower, toilets, and car park facilities were present. On the left side of lifeboat, castle and public beach were present. On the North side, public beach and a dock facilities were also contained in it. It conatined fishing boat facility on the south side.

After so many years, now the porth harbour contains many facilities like cafes and shops are present on south side beside the road. The castle area is replaced with a hotel and a private beach. While fishing boat and marina private yachts area are now replaced with eachother.

Overall, the porth harbour in 2000 looked very old with some facilities like the castle were unused. And now, it contains many new facilities like hotel, cafes and shops and a private beach.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two time periods and report several relevant changes, including the hotel replacing the castle, the addition of cafés and shops, and the exchange of the fishing-boat and marina areas. However, the description is only partial and some locations are inaccurate or unclear. For example, the marina was not “on the left side of showers”; in 2000 it was in the northern basin, while the facilities were to its west. The lifeboat was on a southern pier, and the public beach was south of the road, not simply “on the left side” of the lifeboat. The overview also calls the harbour “very old,” which is an unsupported impression. A clearer overview of the main spatial changes, supported by accurate comparisons, would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic chronological structure: it first describes the 2000 plan, then the present-day plan, and ends with an overall statement. This gives the reader a general sense of the comparison. However, progression within the paragraphs is not consistently clear, and several location references are difficult to follow, such as “on the left side of lifeboat” and “on the west side” without a clear point of reference. The transition “After so many years” is conversational, while repeated use of “and” and sentence fragments beginning with “While” make connections mechanical. Grouping features by area or by type of change, and using precise references such as “to the south of the harbour” or “in the northern basin,” would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “harbour,” “facilities,” “replaced,” “private beach,” and “passenger ferries,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, which sometimes makes the map description harder to interpret. For instance, “contained main area for passenger ferries” and “fishing boat facility” do not describe the features naturally; “the marina private yachts area” is also awkward. There are noticeable spelling errors, including “conatined,” and inconsistent forms such as “shower” where the map labels “showers.” Use accurate map vocabulary and collocations, and check spelling and plural forms to make descriptions more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most sentences use simple structures, and the basic past-to-present contrast is attempted through “In 2000” and “now.” However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “the porth harbour contained main area” is missing an article and has an unclear noun structure; “On the left side of showers there was a marina. while…” has faulty sentence boundaries and punctuation. The sentence beginning “While fishing boat and marina…” is incomplete, and “were present” does not clearly agree with the intended plural facilities. Try building complete comparative sentences with accurate articles and plural forms, such as “The marina was in the northern basin, whereas fishing boats occupied the southern area.”

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