Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-11-03

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 we can see below depicting the scenerio of a harbour in 2000 and how it has changed in the recent times. Overall, we can assume that there are alot of changes occured in the harbour between the years.

In both times the Car parkings, Lifeboats, Passenger ferries and the Public beach at the north west side remained unchanged as they are at the similar places in recent time as they were in 2000.

However, unlike 2000 there has developed another Shower & Toilet beside the Car Parkings. We can also see that the Marina private yaught and Fishing boats have been swaped their places with each other. A new Cafe & shops has been build beside the Lifeboat and the Public beach which was at the south from the Lifeboat has changed into the Private Beach for the Hotel in recent time. Also the Castle which was in the south east position from the public beach has changed into a Hotel.

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 addition of cafés and shops, and the conversion of the castle into a hotel. However, the overview is vague: “alot of changes” does not summarise the main pattern of redevelopment. Some details are inaccurate or unclear. The car parks, lifeboat and passenger ferries did not all remain unchanged in the way described; the facilities and car-park arrangement changed, and the ferries are not stated to have stayed in the same position. The north-east public beach also remains public, while the southern beach becomes private. To make the report more complete, describe the main changes by area and distinguish clearly between features that remained and those that were relocated or replaced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable progression: an introduction and overview are followed by a paragraph describing changes. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “Also” help signal relationships between ideas. Nevertheless, the overview is too general to guide the reader, and the second paragraph combines several changes in a long sequence, making the spatial relationships harder to follow. The reference to the public beach “at the south from the Lifeboat” is also unclear, particularly because the map shows a southern beach and a separate north-east public beach. Organise the details into clearer groups—for example, changes to the harbour facilities and changes around the southern road—and use precise references to locations.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant map vocabulary, including “Marina,” “Fishing boats,” “beside,” and “changed into,” so the main ideas are generally understandable. However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision: “Car parkings” is not the natural label, “yaught” is misspelled, and “swaped their places” is an awkward way to describe the relocation. “Scenerio” and “alot” also show insufficient spelling control. In addition, “recent times” is less precise than “today” for comparing the two plans. Build a more accurate range of verbs for map changes, such as “relocated,” “replaced,” and “converted,” and use the labels from the map consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast introduced by “However” and a relative clause in “the Public beach which was at the south…”. Some grammatical errors remain, and they occasionally make relationships between features unclear. For example, “there has developed another Shower & Toilet” uses an awkward construction and tense; “have been swaped their places” does not form a correct passive; and “which was at the south from the Lifeboat” has an incorrect preposition pattern. The opening sentence also lacks a clear main verb structure. Practise describing changes with controlled forms such as “A second shower and toilet block was added” and “The marina and fishing-boat areas exchanged locations.”

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.