Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The site plans illustrates a modernization of a boat harbour and demonstrates the comparison between 2000 and today.

The harbour today has more facilities for people by utilizing the unused spaces and converting them for public enjoyment places like hotel, cafe's and shops with more parking spaces.

The north east side of the harbour has now three docking spaces for passenger ferries instead of two. The marina (private yacht) space in the north west corner has now relocated to the south side of the harbour and has been replaced with fishing boats. While the showers and toilets and Car park area along the main road remain the same like before. A new shower and toilets area has been devolped with the new location of Marina.

In the south east part of the harbour, the disused castle has been converted into a hotel, and the private beach along-side the castle is now a private beach for the hotel. There is a new space opened for Cafe and shops near the Lifeboat area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main direction of change: the harbour gains visitor facilities, the marina and fishing-boat areas switch places, and the disused castle becomes a hotel. These are relevant, accurate features, and your opening gives a clear overall impression of modernisation. The response also includes useful details such as the new cafés and shops and additional showers and toilets. Some points, however, are incomplete or inaccurate: the north-east feature is a public beach, not a location with three passenger-ferry docking spaces, and the plans show an additional jetty and two boats at the northern dock. The claim that the north-west facilities remain the same overlooks the new south-west facilities. A fuller account of the main changes and more precise locations would strengthen the summary further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, a broad summary, and details moving from the northern area to the south-east. This makes the main changes reasonably easy to follow. You also use linking expressions such as “While” and “In the south east part” to connect information. However, the paragraphing is limited, and some connections are not fully clear. For example, “The north east side” introduces the dock, but the following description of the marina’s former north-west location makes the spatial progression less consistent. “While” begins a fragment rather than a complete contrast. Grouping the changes into a paragraph about the northern harbour and one about the southern facilities, with clearer transitions, would improve progression and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a suitable range of topic vocabulary, including “harbour,” “marina,” “fishing boats,” “disused castle,” and “private beach,” which helps convey the plan changes. Words such as “modernization” and “converted” also show an attempt to describe development rather than simply list labels. Some choices are imprecise or awkward for this task: “docking spaces” does not accurately describe the additional jetty and boats, and “public enjoyment places” is an unnatural phrase. There are also spelling and form errors, including “devolped” and “cafe's.” Aim for precise map vocabulary and standard forms, such as “berths,” “facilities,” and “cafés.” This would make the description more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex structures, including “The marina … has now relocated … and has been replaced” and the sentence beginning “While.” The main message is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. The opening has subject–verb disagreement: “The site plans illustrates” should be “The site plans illustrate.” Articles are missing in phrases such as “like hotel” and “near the Lifeboat area,” and “the private beach along-side the castle is now a private beach” creates an unclear sentence structure. The clause beginning “While the showers and toilets…” is incomplete as written. Check agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries, and make sure subordinate clauses are attached to a complete main clause.

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