Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-27

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 maps illustrate the changes a harbour went through from the year 2000 to now.

Overall, the Porth Harbour has gone through a redevelpment which includes extending the old dock building new infrastrature such as a new hotel and Cafes.

In 2000, the initial plan shows in the top left side there was a car park which was connected to the main road and the showers and toilets was just avobe it and this remaid the same. But the Marina (private yachts) and the Fishing botats palces were exchanged. Moreover, Showers has been added in the left bottum and the car park was rebuilt to connect with the main road.

Furthermore, cafes and shops was introduced beside the existing lifeboat and the bottum side road was extented to connect with the new hotel which was used to be a castle. Addition to that, The existing public beach in 2000 has now converted to a private beach for the hotal.In addition, the upper side of the map there was only one dock and one more is build. Passenger ferries are placed where they used to be. , the public beach in the top right side remaind same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall change as redevelopment and report several important comparisons: the marina and fishing-boat areas switch places, cafés and shops are added beside the lifeboat station, and the disused castle becomes a hotel with the southern beach made private. You also note that the north-eastern public beach remains and that the passenger ferries stay in place. These details address the task well. To make the summary more complete and precise, clarify the dock change: the plan shows an additional jetty and two boats, rather than simply saying “one more” dock is built. The new southern showers and car park are also described unclearly, and the overview could better summarise the harbour’s major functional changes. Some features are therefore less fully reported than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an overview to details about the western facilities, then the southern and northern areas. Linking expressions such as “Moreover,” “Furthermore,” and “In addition” help signal added information. However, progression within the final paragraph becomes difficult to follow: “Addition to that” is followed by several separate changes, and the sentence about the dock, ferries, and beach ends with confusing punctuation. Some references, such as “the existing public beach,” are not immediately precise about which beach is meant. Grouping changes by location and using clearer transitions—for example, “In the south” and “At the harbour entrance”—would make the organisation more consistent and reduce the mechanical feel of the connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “harbour,” “Marina (private yachts),” “lifeboat,” “private beach,” and “introduced,” so the reader can identify many of the changes. There is also some attempt to describe development with “redevelopment” and “infrastructure.” However, spelling errors such as “redevelpment,” “infrastrature,” “botats,” and “remaind” are noticeable, and some choices are imprecise: “the dock building” and “one more is build” do not accurately describe the additional jetty. Phrases such as “the bottom side road was extended” are also awkward for a map description. Aim for accurate, conventional terms such as “additional jetty,” “southern road,” and “facilities,” and proofread spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “But” and a relative clause in “which was used to be a castle.” However, errors in agreement, tense, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some passages difficult to read. For example, “the showers and toilets was” should use a plural verb, while “cafes and shops was introduced” also needs plural agreement and a suitable passive form. “The existing public beach … has now converted” is missing “been,” and “which was used to be” combines incompatible verb patterns. The final section also contains a run-on sentence and misplaced punctuation. Practise accurate past and present passive forms, and separate each comparison into a complete sentence.

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