Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

Porth Harbour in 2000 was looking different than today. The following main features of Porth Harbour were like there was showers and toilets in the north side.Main road is existing in the west side and in front of the road in east siude there were two car parks used for parking the cars.In the south west side there was the the castle which is disused .In the middle there were marine , fishing boats , life boats and passenger ferries.There were two public beach one in north side and other in south side.

Today Porth Harbour is quite different. There are two showers , two toilets and two cark parks. This show that the number people visiting there are increased. To facilitate those people hotel is also introduced there.Near the hotel private beach is also replaced by public beach and still public beachis present in north side.

In 2000 docks were outside the water but nowadays docks are inside the water.To facilitate people cakes and shops are also introduced there.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the harbour as having changed and mention several relevant features, including the road, beaches, boats, hotel and cafés/shops. However, the account only partially reports the main changes and includes important inaccuracies. For example, the castle was in the south-east, not the south-west, and the docks were at the northern harbour entrance rather than “outside the water” or “inside the water.” The two beaches are not both public today: the southern beach became private for the hotel. The overview is also unclear, and the claim that visitor numbers increased is not supported by the plans. To strengthen the response, summarise the major changes accurately, especially the exchange of the marina and fishing-boat areas and the hotel replacing the disused castle.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: it first describes 2000, then turns to the present, and uses simple transitions such as “Today” and “In 2000.” This helps readers recognise the time comparison. However, the information within each paragraph is often presented as a list, with limited progression from location to location or from the most important changes to smaller details. Some connections are unclear, as in “Near the hotel private beach is also replaced by public beach,” and the final sentence about the docks and shops feels disconnected from the preceding points. Group related changes and use clearer comparisons, such as “whereas” or “by contrast,” while keeping each sentence focused on one feature.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “harbour,” “car parks,” “passenger ferries,” “hotel” and “public beach,” so the reader can identify many of the features being discussed. However, the range is limited and several choices or spellings reduce precision: “marine” is used where “marina” is intended, “cark parks” is misspelled, and “cakes and shops” appears to mean “cafés and shops.” Phrases such as “used for parking the cars” are also unnecessarily repetitive. Aim for accurate map vocabulary and concise location language, for example “situated to the west of” or “was converted into.” Proofreading labels and choosing precise terms would make the description easier to follow.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most sentences rely on simple structures, and attempts to describe locations and changes often contain errors that make the relationships difficult to understand. For example, “Porth Harbour in 2000 was looking different than today” uses an awkward tense and comparison structure, while “There are two showers, two toilets and two cark parks” does not clearly distinguish facilities from separate blocks. There are also problems with articles, agreement and sentence boundaries, as in “This show that the number people visiting there are increased.” Try using accurate past and present forms consistently, and build clear comparison sentences such as “The castle was replaced by a hotel.” Check punctuation and avoid joining several location details into one long sentence.

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