Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-20

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 given map illustrates the difference on a porth harbour between 2000 and today.

Overall, the major changes on the porth harbour is convert castle into hotel and add some cafes and shops. Also build some new showers and tiolets.

The porth harbour in 2000 there is not many facilities for tourists on harbour and with the passage of time the harbour developed in favour of tourism. The major changes are the castle in the south-east corner was converted into the hotel and also added a nearest beach in them. In the north-east corner increase the size of the dock.

Also, added the showers and tiolets in the upper side of the car-park in the south west corner. increase the size of the marina an

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the broad shift towards tourism, noting the castle’s replacement by a hotel and the addition of cafés and shops. However, the report covers the map only partially: it omits major changes such as the exchange of the marina and fishing-boat areas, the new southern facilities, and the extra jetty and boats. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: the dock is not described as increasing in size, and the southern beach is not newly added; it changes from public to private. The overview also says the marina increases in size, but the maps show it relocating. The response is 125 words, below the required 150, which further limits the detail available. To improve, give a clear overview and report the main changes accurately and selectively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure, with an opening, an overview, and two further paragraphs, and it uses simple links such as “Overall” and “Also.” These features help the reader recognise that you are comparing two time periods. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the second paragraph moves from general tourism development to the hotel, beach, and dock without a clear organising principle, while the final paragraph ends abruptly at “marina an”. Some references, such as “in them,” are difficult to follow, and the repeated use of “also” does little to show how the changes relate. Grouping changes by location or by type, and completing each point before moving on, would make the report easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “south-east corner,” “dock,” “marina,” and “car-park,” so the reader can identify several locations and features. However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which makes parts of the description unclear. For example, “increase the size of the dock” does not accurately describe the added jetty, and “added a nearest beach in them” is not a natural way to describe the hotel’s private beach. “Tiolets” is misspelled, and “porth harbour” is not consistently capitalised as a place name. Aim for precise verbs such as “relocated,” “replaced,” and “converted,” and use standard map-description phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts a few longer structures, including “with the passage of time the harbour developed in favour of tourism,” but most sentences rely on simple patterns, and errors are frequent enough to affect clarity. Examples include “the major changes … is,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “The porth harbour in 2000 there is not many facilities,” which lacks a clear sentence structure and has an agreement error. The phrase “castle … was converted into the hotel and also added a nearest beach in them” also has an unclear subject and faulty clause construction. The final sentence is incomplete. Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, use past tense for the 2000 map and present tense for today, and check agreement and articles.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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