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 main features of two scenerio shows that,the Porth harbour today from the year of 2000 has lots of changes. Mainly the habour get more modernize and commercial.If we start from the main road then we can notice that today there have two shower and toilets in addition fishing boats and Marina(private yachts) area alter to each other place than the porth harbour(2000).Today there have also a cafe near lifeboat area.Moreover,Castle(disused) now converted to a hostel where the public beach now use a private beach for the hostel.Furthermore,there have two dock now but in 2000's there was only one.Basically these are the adverse changes that happened throughout the years and the harbour gradually gets more commercialize..

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the broad change towards a more commercial harbour and mention several relevant developments, including the exchange of the fishing-boat and marina areas, new facilities, and the castle becoming a hotel. However, the response only partially covers the plans: it says there are “two dock[s]” today, whereas the map shows one dock with an additional jetty and two boats, and “hostel” is not accurate—the building is a hotel. The overview is also brief, and important changes such as the added cafés and shops, the second car park, and the beach becoming private could be reported more precisely. The response is 116 words, below the required 150, which limits the detail and comparisons you can provide. Develop a fuller overview and describe the main changes accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence: it introduces the overall change, then lists several features using “Moreover” and “Furthermore,” before ending with a general comment. These links help the reader follow the points, and the ideas are broadly related to the task. However, the whole answer is presented as one paragraph, and the progression is not clearly organised by area or by type of change. Phrases such as “If we start from the main road” do not establish a clear route through the map, while “Basically these are the adverse changes” is an unclear summary. Use a separate overview and organise details into logical groups, such as changes to harbour facilities and changes to the southern shore.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “main road,” “lifeboat area,” “public beach,” and “private beach,” and “commercial” communicates your general interpretation of the development. However, the range is limited, and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “adverse changes” suggests harmful effects, while “two dock” and “converted to a hostel” do not describe the map correctly. Spelling and word-form errors, including “scenerio,” “habour,” and “modernize,” also reduce precision. Aim for accurate terms such as “additional jetty,” “hotel,” and “facilities,” and use verbs like “relocated,” “replaced,” and “added” to describe changes clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some longer sentence forms, for example, “If we start from the main road then we can notice that…,” and use time references to compare the two plans. However, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Examples include “two scenerio shows,” “today there have,” and “the harbour gradually gets,” where agreement and verb forms are not controlled. Articles and sentence boundaries are also problematic, as in “a cafe near lifeboat area” and the run-together punctuation in “(private yachts) area alter…Today.” Practise forming clear present-tense comparison sentences, such as “The marina has moved to the southern basin, while fishing boats now occupy the northern one,” and check agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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

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