Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-02

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 how porth harbour looked in 2000 and how it looks today.

overall, many new area for activity has been introduce for example cafe, shops etc. One more dock is added and with increasement in number of visitors there is addition of shower and toilet.

In 2000, there was a dock in north east side and passenger ferries.Moreover, a public beach. The main road connected to a car park in the right side there was a place for private yachts and connected with showers and toilets. in the other area which has a road to the lifeboat and a castle in south eastern side of it and beach nearby for public at entrance to this road there ia a cark park and in roght side there is a place for fishing boats.

With increasement in visitors many new area has been built like a dock,cafes,shops and addition of showers and toilets. The castle place has been took over by hotel converting the nearby public beach to private and place for private yatchs and fishing boats has been swapped.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two time periods and mention several important changes, including the hotel replacing the castle, the beach becoming private, and the marina and fishing-boat areas being swapped. However, the overview is vague and partly unsupported: the claim that changes occurred “with increasement in number of visitors” is not shown by the maps. Some locations are also misreported or unclear. For example, the dock is at the northern harbour entrance, not simply on the “north east side,” and the car park is not described as being on the right. The response gives limited detail about the changed facilities and layout, so the main features are only partly covered. Make the overview more precise and report the map changes without inferring causes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph about 2000, and a final paragraph about today. This gives the reader a general sense of the comparison. However, progression within the body paragraphs is difficult to follow, particularly in the long 2000 sentence that moves from the dock to the road, lifeboat, castle, beach, car park and fishing boats without clear organisation. Linking is also repetitive, with “Moreover,” “in the other area,” and “With increasement” doing little to clarify relationships. Group details by location or by type of change, and use clearer references such as “In the north” and “By contrast” to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “public beach,” “passenger ferries,” “lifeboat,” and “private yachts,” and you attempt to describe change with phrases such as “swapped” and “converting.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are inaccurate or awkward, which sometimes makes the meaning harder to follow. Examples include “new area for activity,” “increasement,” “place for private yachts,” and “the castle place has been took over.” Spelling and word-form errors such as “yatchs” and “roght” also reduce clarity. Build a more precise set of verbs for maps—such as “relocated,” “replaced,” and “was converted into”—and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentences, but control is inconsistent, and errors often make relationships between features unclear. For example, “many new area … has been introduce” has problems with number and verb form, while “the castle place has been took over by hotel” combines an incorrect passive form with missing articles. Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also weak: “passenger ferries.Moreover” lacks a space, and the long sentence beginning “in the other area” contains several ideas joined without clear grammatical structure. Use shorter, complete sentences when describing locations, and practise accurate passive forms such as “was replaced by” and “was converted into.” Check subject–verb agreement, articles, and past-tense forms systematically.

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