Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-25

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 plans below show a harbour in 2000 and how it looks today.

Overall, there are several changes in the Porth Harbour today.We can see that the car parking area has been shifted to the main road.

However, cafes and shops are open on the second road and the second road also leads you towards the hotel which earlier it was a castle.

Now, the private beach area is just for the hotel members.

Besides that, there are several changes on the main road as well. We can see that there are two parking area with an addtion of shower and toilets room.

The Marina and fishing boats area got interchanged and there has been an increased in boats today compare to year 2000.

Addition to that, there is an increase in dock near the fishing boats.

Only few things remain same was the lifeboat amd public beach which is at the same position since 2000.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the exchange of the marina and fishing-boat areas, the castle becoming a hotel, and the southern beach becoming private. However, the overview is not fully clear, and some details are inaccurate or vague: the car parks have not been shifted to the main road, and the added cafés and shops are beside the lifeboat station, not on a “second road.” The claim of an increase in boats is not clearly supported; the northern dock has an additional jetty and two boats, while the fishing boats and marina change locations. The response is also 143 words, below the 150-word minimum; 13 words copied from the prompt were excluded from the count. Add a clearer overview and accurately describe the main spatial changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic sequence, beginning with an overall statement and then listing changes, and linking phrases such as “However,” “Besides that,” and “Addition to that” show an attempt to connect ideas. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the discussion moves from parking to the hotel, back to the main road, and then to the harbour without a clear grouping of locations or changes. Some links are also awkward or repetitive, and “the second road” is unclear to the reader. Organise the report into a concise overview followed by paragraphs grouping changes in the northern and southern areas. Use references such as “in the northern basin” to make relationships between features easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “harbour,” “Marina,” “fishing boats,” “lifeboat,” and “private beach,” so the main subject is generally understandable. There is some variety in describing change, but several choices are imprecise or unnatural, such as “car parking area has been shifted to the main road,” “boats area got interchanged,” and “increase in dock.” Spelling errors such as “addtion” and “amd” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise map language and natural collocations: describe facilities as being “relocated” or “added,” and specify what has changed rather than using broad phrases. This would make the account clearer and more appropriate to an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, for example, “The Marina and fishing boats area got interchanged” and the sentence about the hotel replacing the castle. Meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and verb forms are noticeable. In “the hotel which earlier it was a castle,” the relative clause is incorrectly formed; write “the hotel, which was previously a castle.” “There are two parking area” needs plural agreement, while “there has been an increased” uses the wrong form after “an.” The sentence “Only few things remain same was…” also has problems with articles and agreement. Practise accurate past-to-present comparisons and check each sentence for subject–verb agreement and complete clause structure.

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

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