Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 5.0)

The Map illustrate college cafe before it was redesigned and how it look Current appearance.

Overall , the cafe have significant modification with most of the places and improve the dining area with tables and chair's.

In the pervious design , there was kitchen in north west side with serving area , which serve all food and drink , now is change into hot meals area , bin is upgrade into recycle bin in east side. Staff dinning rooms are replace by take away food and Coffee bar according to new Design. Salad bar was not on pervious design. Now on outdoor , barbecue place and out door seating area in the south side of map , newly construct for the people to enjoy the food and hangout in Fresh air.

In the main hall table and chair section remain same in both design, however toilets is also same place beside the bin.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover the main features of the before and after plans of the college cafe. The writer mentions key changes such as the transformation of the kitchen into a hot meals area, the addition of a salad bar, take-away food, and outdoor facilities. However, the overview is extremely brief and lacks a clear summary of the most striking overall trends. Furthermore, some details are slightly inaccurate or confusingly stated, such as describing the bin as being upgraded to a recycle bin on the east side rather than noting overall layout shifts. Because the selection of features is somewhat basic and lacks depth in comparison, this falls into band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The text is organized into four short paragraphs, representing an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. However, the progression of ideas is often disjointed and lacks smooth transitions. Cohesive devices are used minimally or inaccurately, such as the abrupt transitions between clauses and sentences (e.g., 'now is change into hot meals area'). Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall logical flow and referencing between sentences are weak, leading to a somewhat fragmented reading experience. This aligns with band 5 descriptors for coherence and cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple terms like 'cafe', 'area', 'design', and 'food'. There are numerous lexical and collocation errors, such as 'The Map illustrate', 'how it look Current appearance', 'Staff dinning rooms are replace', and 'out door seating area'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with noticeable inaccuracy, and spelling mistakes like 'pervious' instead of 'previous' occur multiple times. These limitations restrict the lexical range, placing the response firmly at band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The writing demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting mostly of simple sentences and basic attempts at complex ones that are frequently faulty. There are persistent, major grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('the cafe have', 'toilets is also same place'), missing articles ('kitchen in north west side', 'bin is upgrade'), and tense inconsistencies ('now is change'). These frequent errors cause difficulty for the reader and reflect band 4 level control.

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

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