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 palns of Porth harbour illustrates the comparison of modifications in a harbour recently and in 2000.

Overall, there was major chnges in infra-struture in terms of new constructions and renovation in existing areas.

In 2000, the porth harbour was located on the east side of main road started with link road leading to life boat with car park in north. There was a diused castles in south east along with public beach. While fishing boats, marine private yachts,showers and toilets with one more car parks were found in north west of harbour. whereas, passangers ferries and public beach situated at thenorth east corner of harbour.

The current location of harbour is same as that of 2000 with same link road but with addition building of cafe and shops with life boat in south east and construction of hotel instead of disused castle with a short passage leading to hotel. similarly fishing boats and marine private yachts location interchane with one an other in the north east corner with car park remaining at its original position.There was a little modification in dock by incresing more passangers ferries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad change from the 2000 layout to the present, including the hotel replacing the disused castle and the relocation of the fishing boats and private-yacht marina. However, the overview is general (“major changes”) rather than summarising the most important transformations clearly. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: the castle area is described as having a public beach in 2000, although the beach is south of the road; the marina and fishing boats are said to interchange in the north-east, when they occupy the northern and southern harbour basins; and the current southern beach becomes private, a key change you omit. The dock gains an additional jetty and has two boats, rather than simply more passenger ferries. Select and report these main changes more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, a brief overview, and separate descriptions of the two time periods. This gives the reader a general sense of the comparison. However, progression within the body is difficult to follow because several locations and changes are compressed into long sentences, such as the account beginning “The current location of harbour.” The contrast marker “While” is not clearly connected to the preceding clause, and “whereas” is used after a full stop without a clear comparison. Linking words such as “similarly” also introduce information that is not actually similar. Organise the details by area or by change, and use clear references such as “in the northern basin” and “in the south” to make relationships easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “main road,” “car park,” “public beach,” “construction,” and “location,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the description unclear. “Modifications in a harbour recently” is an awkward way to introduce the comparison; “changes to the harbour over time” would be more natural. “Interchane with one an other” is both misspelled and imprecise, while “increasing more passenger ferries” does not accurately describe the dock changes. Spelling errors such as “palns,” “chnges,” “diused,” and “passangers” are noticeable. Build a reliable set of precise terms for map changes, and check spelling and word forms before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make the relationships between features hard to understand. For example, “The plans … illustrates” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “there was major changes” has incorrect agreement and number. Articles and sentence construction are also problematic in phrases such as “a diused castles” and “with addition building of cafe and shops.” Several sentences run together or use incomplete contrasts, particularly the sentence beginning “While fishing boats…” and the following “whereas” clause. Practise forming clear subject–verb sentences, checking singular and plural agreement, and using full stops and conjunctions to separate comparisons. More accurate control of these patterns would make your ideas much easier to follow.

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