Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17
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 given pictures of a college cafe illustrate's it's design before and after the redesign
Overall, cafe got really good upgrade's by addition of more counters like salad bar or coffee bar, and introducing more outdoor seating space for students and staff.
The cafe got a complete makeover with the redesign, As now it offers outdoor seating to handle more crowd at a single time.Staff dining rooms is now replaced by a coffee bar and a take away counter. New barbecue is introduced to students so that they can have fresh barbecue food. A salad bar is installed in the cafe for the health consicous students. More small changes like recycling bins were installed and now students have hot meals instead of the regular food they were given before.
Students and staff would now enjoy a completely new cafe which has more space and facilities for them.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to summarise the changes shown in the two maps, identifying key modifications such as the addition of the salad bar, coffee bar, outdoor seating, and barbecue area. However, there are notable omissions and inaccuracies regarding the spatial layout. For instance, the former staff dining rooms are described as being replaced by a coffee bar and a take-away counter, but the plan shows these areas along the north wall were converted into take-away food and a coffee bar, while the serving area became hot meals. Furthermore, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 147 words. This negative length constraint requires a penalty under IELTS guidelines, limiting the task achievement score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is divided into four very short paragraphs, which gives it a fragmented appearance. While there is a basic attempt to structure the answer with an introduction, body, and conclusion, the paragraphs are underdeveloped and lack smooth transitions. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes inaccurate, such as starting a sentence with 'As now it offers...'. Paragraphing is not used effectively to group related information, as single sentences form entire paragraphs. Overall arrangement is somewhat disjointed, placing this criterion at a band 5.0 level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a basic vocabulary range suitable for describing the visual data, using terms like 'redesign', 'upgrade', 'outdoor seating', and 'recycling bins'. However, there are numerous lexical and grammatical errors involving word formation and apostrophe misuse, such as 'illustrate's it's design' and 'upgrade's' instead of 'upgrades'. There is also a spelling error ('consicous' instead of 'conscious'). While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the general message, these persistent errors and the lack of more sophisticated lexical items restrict the score to a 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. There are several punctuation and capitalisation errors, including missing full stops and unnecessary comma splices ('...with the redesign, As now it offers...'). Apostrophes are misused repeatedly for pluralisation ('upgrade's') and contraction ('illustrate's it's design'). Subject-verb agreement is also flawed in places ('Staff dining rooms is now replaced'). Although meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of basic grammatical and mechanical errors places this response firmly at band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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