Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-15
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 image represents two maps of college cafe,before and after being entirely restored.
Overall, the notiecable transform in the entire building are staff dinning rooms which currently apperad as take away of food and coffe bar.Moreover, southern side of the wall now contains outdoor seating area which before was entirely empty.
To begin, square shaped mini bin was completely replaced into modern recycling bin which now contain large quantity of waste inside it.Furthermore, another major alteration done is outside of cafe which is currently tranform into a outdoor siiting area, which allow approximately 26 individuals have coffee or other desert at the moment.However, toilet and kitchen remains same.
On the other hand, at the southwest corner, two entrance are built which allow customers to access toilet at the east and salad bar at the west corner of the building.Moreover, barbecue site is developed for fun activities.Staff dinning room now serve as take away food window and coffee bar.Another major modification done is serving area beneath the kitchen currently serve as hot meals counter. Ultimately the cafe totally transformed from an ancient into modern cafe.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the task by comparing the two plans of the college cafe, identifying key changes such as the transformation of the staff dining rooms into a take-away area and coffee bar, the addition of outdoor seating, and the barbecue area. However, there are some inaccuracies and misreadings of the map data. For instance, the text claims that two entrances were built at the southwest corner allowing access to the toilet at the east and salad bar at the west, which confuses the actual layout shown in the visual data. The overview is also somewhat simplistic ('ancient into modern cafe'). While the main features are touched upon, the lack of precision in reporting spatial details limits the task response to a Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is divided into paragraphs, but the overall progression of information lacks smooth logical transitions. The opening paragraph introduces the maps, followed by body paragraphs that mix various unrelated features together rather than grouping them systematically (e.g., discussing the bin, outdoor seating, and toilets in the same paragraph). Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or awkwardly, such as 'To begin,' and 'On the other hand,' which do not logically fit the contrast being made. Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in pronoun and spatial references. Paragraphing is attempted but needs better structural control.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication but contains noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'notiecable transform' (noticeable transformation), 'apperad' (appeared), 'tranform into a outdoor siiting area' (transformed into an outdoor seating area), and 'desert' instead of 'dessert'. There are attempts at less common vocabulary ('alteration', 'modification', 'recycling bin'), but spelling and morphological errors ('dinning' instead of 'dining', 'coffe') recur throughout the text, constraining the lexical score to a Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is relatively low. There are frequent errors in verb forms, tense consistency, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'staff dinning rooms which currently apperad', 'bin was completely replaced into' (replaced with), and 'which allow approximately 26 individuals have coffee' (allow ... to have). Punctuation and article usage also show frequent lapses (e.g., missing articles before singular countable nouns like 'college cafe' and 'outdoor seating area'). These errors cause some difficulty for the reader.
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.