Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The plans illustrate a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

First of all, discuss the map of cafe before redesign show the diagram the cafe one side show the upper side kitchen and down side the room serving area (all foods and drink) saved. And the large building show the one side two staff dining rooms and the center show the tables and chairs because the costorms easily sit and enjoy the meals and the bin door the left side the toilets.

Secondly, the cafe today maps show the diagram the cafe one side the Kitchen and the hot meals and the cafe buliding the upper side the room of take away food and second room Coffee bar and the center not change the same chairs and tables and the bin door side the room of recyclin bins and the aright side Toilets one side show and the bar and theSalad bar and the outdoor seating area for the costorms and the outdoor side the setup for the Barbecue.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two stages and mention several relevant changes, including the kitchen and hot-meal counter, the take-away and coffee-bar areas, recycling bins, toilets, outdoor seating and a barbecue. However, the response only partially reports the plans: it gives little clear comparison or overview of the main changes, and some locations are confused. For example, the original staff dining rooms are described, but the new outdoor seating and barbecue are not clearly located in relation to the building; the phrase “the bin door the left side the toilets” also misrepresents the original layout. The central tables and chairs remaining unchanged is a useful comparison. To strengthen the report, state the major changes in a concise overview, then describe the interior and exterior changes accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic two-stage structure: it introduces the plans, then uses “First of all” and “Secondly” to separate the earlier café from its current layout. This gives the reader some sense of sequence. However, progression within each section is difficult to follow because several features are joined in long strings, such as “the center show the tables and chairs … and the bin door the left side the toilets.” The repeated use of “the cafe,” “the side” and “show” does not make relationships between features clear, and the transition between indoor and outdoor areas is abrupt. Organise the report into an overview followed by one paragraph for each plan, and use clear location links such as “along the north wall” and “outside to the south.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “staff dining rooms,” “tables and chairs,” “take away food,” “Coffee bar” and “outdoor seating.” These terms show an attempt to describe the plan rather than relying entirely on general language. However, the range is limited and several word choices or spellings make the description harder to understand, including “costorms,” “recyclin,” “aright side” and “the room of take away food.” Repeated reliance on “side,” “room” and “show” also limits precision. Use standard plan-description vocabulary and check spelling; terms such as “counter,” “section,” “entrance” and “along the eastern wall” would help distinguish features and their positions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe both plans using connected sentences, but grammatical control is weak and sentence structures are mostly simple or incomplete. For example, “First of all, discuss the map of cafe before redesign show the diagram” lacks a clear subject–verb structure, while “the center show the tables and chairs” has an agreement error. Articles and prepositions are also often missing or unclear, as in “map of cafe” and “the bin door the left side the toilets.” These problems frequently make relationships between features difficult to follow. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, for example, “In the original plan, the staff dining rooms are along the north wall.” Then check articles, agreement and punctuation.

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