Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-10

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.

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The plans of a college cafe shows how it was before and look now after rebuild process.

Overall it is evident that cafe before have had kitchen and there was serving area of all food and drink oppsite side. After that, enttring in the main hall there was a staff dining rooms in the north side.Tables and chairs were at the center of the hall. Next, there was toilets to the corner of right side of south east. Afterwards, had a bin ahead of toilets.

After the redesign of a college cafe the whole building now completely changed.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies a few features of the original café, including the kitchen, serving area, staff dining rooms, central tables and chairs, toilets, and bin. However, it does not adequately summarise the redesign: the new take-away and coffee-bar sections, salad bar, recycling bins, and outdoor seating with a barbecue are all omitted. The statement that the building “completely changed” is too general and does not describe the main changes; in fact, the kitchen, central seating, and toilets remain. Some locations are also unclear or inaccurate. The response is 98 words, below the required 150, which further limits the coverage. To improve, give a clear overview of what stayed the same and what was added or replaced, then describe the key changes in both plans.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response, beginning with an introduction and then describing features of the original plan. Words such as “Overall,” “Next,” and “Afterwards” provide some signposting. However, the sequence is difficult to follow: the overview is used to list details, and the final sentence jumps to the redesign without explaining any specific changes. The paragraphing is also limited, and “After that” and “Afterwards” do not establish clear relationships between the locations described. A more effective structure would use one paragraph for an overview and separate paragraphs comparing the original and current layouts, with clear references such as “in the original plan” and “in the redesigned café.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “kitchen,” “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “center,” and “corner.” This gives the reader a basic sense of the features being discussed. However, the range is limited, and several spelling and word-choice problems reduce clarity, such as “opp site” (intended as “opposite”), “enttring,” and “rebuild process.” Phrases such as “ahead of toilets” are not precise for describing a position on a plan; “along the eastern wall” or “next to the toilets” would be clearer. The response also lacks vocabulary for the new facilities shown. Learn and use accurate location language and terms such as “was replaced by,” “was added,” and “remained unchanged” to make comparisons more precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts a few sentence forms, including an opening description and sentences beginning with “Overall” and “Afterwards,” but most structures are simple and several contain errors. For example, “The plans … shows” has subject–verb disagreement, while “how it was before and look now” mixes verb forms. “Cafe before have had kitchen” has problems with tense and articles, and “there was a staff dining rooms” has incorrect agreement. The sentence “Afterwards, had a bin ahead of toilets” is incomplete because it lacks a clear subject. These errors sometimes make the intended relationships difficult to understand. Practise accurate past and present forms, singular and plural agreement, and complete sentences; then combine ideas using controlled comparative structures such as “The staff rooms were replaced by a coffee bar.”

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