Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

Cafe before redesigned, Firstly we entered in cafe from the kitchen side and there the area of the kitchen as well as serving area all food and drink then front of the kitchen the are is called sitting area where the tables and chairs settled then this area also front of the staff dining rooms its mean where the staff was sitting and in the right corner of this area has toilets for the students and staff and up of this area, that area where students can use the bin and the and near to this area an other entrry or exit area held. so, the cafe looks today is the map is approximately same but the kithcen side has launch new ares of hot meals and the table and chairs hall launch the salad bar area and staff diving room totaly change into the take away food and coffee bar and the bis area change into the recycling bins. And one most change is that the outdoor seating banches launch for the students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to describe the changes shown in the two maps of the college cafe. However, it falls significantly short of a well-structured academic task. While the student mentions several key transformations—such as the addition of a salad bar, the conversion of staff dining rooms into a take-away food and coffee bar, and the introduction of outdoor seating—the information is presented in a very confused and fragmented manner. There is no clear overview, and the description fails to group spatial information logically. Furthermore, the writing relies heavily on unstructured narrative rather than objective reporting suitable for Task 1. Consequently, it achieves a band score of 4.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The response suffers from severe organizational and cohesion issues. The text is essentially written as two massive run-on sentences connected by conversational transitional phrases like 'Firstly we entered' and 'so, the cafe looks today'. There is no proper paragraphing, and the lack of full stops makes it extremely difficult to follow the spatial progression of the maps. Referencing is frequently unclear, with ambiguous pronouns such as 'this area' used repeatedly without clear antecedents. Cohesive devices are either misused or absent. Because the logical arrangement and progression are heavily disrupted, the coherence and cohesion fall into the Band 4 category.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The student uses a very basic and repetitive vocabulary range, struggling with appropriate terminology for describing structural changes in a map. Examples include phrases like 'table and chairs hall launch the salad bar' and 'staff diving room totaly change'. While the student manages to name some specific features from the prompt, such as 'salad bar', 'coffee bar', and 'recycling bins', the overall lexical control is weak. There are frequent word choice errors, awkward collocations, and spelling mistakes ('kithcen', 'entrry', 'banches'). The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic ideas, earning a Band 4.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatically, the response is extremely weak, consisting almost entirely of run-on clauses linked by coordinating conjunctions and commas rather than proper sentences. There is a complete lack of control over basic sentence boundaries, and complex structures are either absent or constructed incorrectly, such as in 'its mean where the staff was sitting'. Verb tense usage is erratic, shifting inappropriately and failing to maintain a consistent descriptive register. Errors in grammar, punctuation, and word form are pervasive throughout the text and frequently impede communication. This performance aligns with the Band 4.0 descriptors.

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.