Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16
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 plans demonstrates the differnces in college cafe after the whole redesigning phase.
Overall the layout has been changed saignificantly but some part remained the same for instance the entrance was not touched it stayed as it is while the serving area was replaced with the hot beverages section.Major changes happened inside the main dinning hall where the staff rooms were completely removed and 2 new sections were build including take away food and coffe bar.
Meanwhile the side layout also went through some major changes by adding the salad bar to east wall side of the hall and removed ordinary bins with the advanced recycling bins.The major additions were barbecue section at the left side of the outside area meanwhile the rest of the area was utilized with the outdoor seatings with 5 big banches and chairs it is the most crucial changes amongst all of changes made by the managment.
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 candidate attempts to summarise the main changes shown in the two plans of the college cafe, successfully mentioning key alterations such as the removal of the staff rooms to make way for a takeaway food and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, and the new outdoor seating and barbecue areas. However, there are some inaccuracies in the reporting of specific features; for instance, the entrance is reported as being unchanged, but the plans actually show the entrance on the east wall remaining while new doors were added to the south wall, and the serving area was modified into 'Hot meals' rather than entirely replaced by hot beverages. Additionally, the overview is somewhat brief, and the response hovers right around the minimum word count. Consequently, the task is addressed only partially or with some inaccuracies in data reporting, fitting the Band 5.5 to 6.0 profile.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is structured into a brief introductory sentence, a body paragraph discussing interior changes, and a final section covering exterior modifications. However, the essay lacks clear paragraph breaks, presenting as a single dense block of text with the overall overview awkwardly squeezed into the opening sentence rather than standing alone. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive ('meanwhile', 'the major additions'), and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the pronoun 'it' in 'it is the most crucial changes'. The logical progression is somewhat hindered by the lack of traditional paragraphing and abrupt transitions between details.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common lexical items related to maps and changes, such as 'redesigned', 'significantly', and 'management'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'differnces', 'saignificantly', 'dinning', 'coffe', 'banches', and 'seatings'. These lexical and spelling errors are distracting and occasionally cause slight ambiguity, placing the response firmly at Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as participial phrases ('by adding the salad bar') and subordinate clauses. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, featuring multiple punctuation errors, missing commas, and run-on sentences. Examples of errors include 'The plans demonstrates' (subject-verb agreement error), '2 new sections were build' (incorrect past participle form 'built'), and 'removed ordinary bins with the advanced recycling bins' (incorrect prepositional complementation). Frequent errors in basic grammar and sentence boundaries restrict the score to Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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