Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19
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 illustrates changes made in college cafe before it was redesigned and how it will look in now.
overall,there are significant redevelopment with several new facilities constructed,existing eminities expanded, while certain elements remain unchanged.
In terms of college cafe redesign before, in the northwest corner in place of serving area (all food and drink) replaced with hot meals, wheras the kitchen remains the unchanged.In the north east staff dining room were replaced with take away food and coffee bar.
In the west and south west corner salad bar is newly added facilities in the cafe barbeque facilities were added in the cafe, while in the center of north tables and chairs remains the same. Additionally, in the south outdoor seating were expanded for the students sit and eat. However the recycling bins in southeast corner were redeveloped with bins and the toilets remain the unchanged
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 main changes between the two plans, noting that the kitchen remains unchanged while several areas such as the staff dining rooms, serving area, and outdoor spaces were redeveloped. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 146 words, which incurs a penalty under Task Achievement. Additionally, some descriptions contain inaccuracies or confusing phrasing, such as stating that 'recycling bins in southeast corner were redeveloped with bins'. While a general overview is attempted, the details are sometimes poorly articulated or underdeveloped, preventing the response from reaching a higher band. A clearer breakdown of spatial changes and adherence to the word count are needed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response shows some organisational structure with an introductory sentence and body details, but the overall progression is disjointed. Paragraphing is weak, with multiple ideas crammed into a single block of text rather than being logically grouped by location or type of change. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes misused (e.g., 'In terms of college cafe redesign before...'). Referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult to follow the spatial relationships between the old and new layouts. Although an overarching summary is attempted at the beginning, the lack of effective paragraphing and cohesive control keeps this criterion at a band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, relying heavily on terms lifted directly from the prompt and diagram, such as 'college cafe', 'kitchen', 'hot meals', and 'toilets'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'eminities' (amenities), 'wheras' (whereas), and 'unchanged' used redundantly. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are limited and often inaccurate. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the general topic, word choice and spelling inaccuracies prevent it from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent grammatical errors. There are issues with punctuation, missing articles, and awkward phrasing, such as 'overall,there are significant redevelopment' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'outdoor seating were expanded for the students sit and eat' (missing preposition 'to'). Complex structures are rarely attempted, and when they are, they contain errors that occasionally impede the flow of reading. Punctuation is also neglected in places, such as missing capitalisation and spacing after commas.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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