Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-21

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 plan illustrates a harbour in 2000 to that of it's plans today.

Overall,Porth Harbour underwent some significant changes throughout the years, additional elements such cafes and shops, hotel and extra docks were included.Despite these changes,places such as car parks, private beach and passenger ferries remained the same.

The western side of the harbour faciliates car parks, showers and toilets. Though car parks were maintained to be the same, an additional Shower and Toilets area was added. Fishing boats and private yachts exchanged it's positions compared to before . The road leading to the lifeboat, now extends to a hotel which was a disused castle in the 1960's. Alongside the lifeboat, there is an inclusion of Cafes and Shops making the harbour more contemporary.Private beach is still present in the southern part but is now limited only to the hotel. Meanwhile, the opposite end to this consists of an extra dock supporting extended transport.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall changes, including the addition of cafés and shops, the replacement of the disused castle by a hotel, and the exchange of the fishing-boat and yacht areas. These are relevant features, and the overview also notes that the harbour has been modernised. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the castle is described as disused in the plan, but it is not dated to the 1960s; the southern beach changes from public to hotel-only, rather than simply remaining a private beach; and the dock gains an additional jetty and a second berthed boat, not merely an “extra dock.” The claim that passenger ferries remained the same is not clearly supported as a comparison. More precise reporting of these changes would make the summary more complete and accurate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing changes around the harbour. The overview helps the reader understand the broad transformation, and linking expressions such as “Despite these changes,” “Meanwhile,” and “Alongside” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the final paragraph moves between locations and features without a clear spatial sequence, so the reader must work to follow the comparison. Some links are also awkward or unclear, particularly “the opposite end to this” and “Though car parks were maintained to be the same.” Organising the details consistently from north to south, or by unchanged and changed features, and using clearer references would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing development, including “underwent,” “additional elements,” “exchanged its positions,” and “inclusion.” These choices communicate the general changes, and the response includes relevant map terms such as “harbour,” “lifeboat,” and “southern part.” However, some expressions are imprecise or do not collocate naturally: “extra docks” suggests more docks rather than an added jetty, while “extended transport” does not clearly describe the boats or facilities shown. “Faciliates” is misspelled, and “contemporary” is an unnecessary interpretation rather than a precise description. Aim for accurate map vocabulary and natural phrases such as “an additional jetty” and “the number of berthed boats increased.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of sentence forms, including a contrast clause (“Despite these changes”) and a relative clause (“which was a disused castle”). Most of the meaning remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and punctuation problems reduce accuracy. For example, “a harbour in 2000 to that of it's plans today” is not a well-formed comparison, and “it's” should be the possessive “its.” In “Fishing boats and private yachts exchanged it's positions,” the plural subject does not agree with “positions” as written. Several sentences also run together after full stops, as in “included.Despite” and “contemporary.Private.” Use complete, clearly punctuated sentences and check possessives, agreement, and comparison structures.

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