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 two layout of the college cafe illustrates the number of renovations have been made.
To begin with, the cafe had a staff dining room on the north side of the toilets Which has been transformed into two different rooms as take away food and coffee bar respectively. Also, in the area with tables and chairs, a salad bar has been built. Moreover, they also expanded the cafe by outdoor seating area along with the barbecue facility. The serving area with all food and drink got replaced by the Hot meals desk.
However, the recycling bin area also remained at a particular position but it got a little enlargement. whereas, the kitchen and toilets remained approximately same position.
Overall, the college cafe earlier did not had much facilities as of now it has after making renovations and adding up new areas such barbecue, salad bar and hot meals which made more attractive 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 describing the main changes between the two college café layouts, such as the addition of the outdoor seating, barbecue, salad bar, and the transformation of the staff dining room. An overview is attempted in the concluding paragraph, noting that the café has more facilities now. However, the response falls slightly short of a fully developed answer because some descriptions are imprecise (e.g., stating the staff dining room was 'on the north side of the toilets' when it was actually along the northern wall) and important comparative details are missed or loosely handled. Furthermore, the length just meets the minimum requirement, leading to a somewhat condensed presentation of features.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text is organized into four paragraphs, providing a basic framework with an introduction, body paragraphs detailing specific changes, and a brief conclusion. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is unclear in places, such as 'Which has been transformed' starting with a relative pronoun without a clear antecedent clause, and 'the recycling bin area also remained at a particular position'. Paragraphing is present, but logical progression between sentences is occasionally disjointed, meaning the overall flow feels a bit clunky. Cohesive devices are used in a limited or repetitive fashion (e.g., 'To begin with', 'Also', 'Moreover', 'However').
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate basic information about the plans, using terms like 'renovations', 'transformed', and 'barbecue facility'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation issues, such as 'The two layout of the college cafe illustrates the number of renovations have been made' (plural agreement error, 'number of' vs 'amount of' / nature of changes), 'did not had much facilities', and 'made more attractive cafe'. Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision and natural control, leading to frequent minor errors that occasionally detract from the reading experience.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writing features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The two layout ... illustrates', 'cafe ... did not had'), article omissions ('an outdoor seating area', 'a more attractive café'), and awkward prepositional usage ('at a particular position' instead of 'in the same location'). Complex structures are sometimes attempted, but punctuation and clause structures contain errors that occasionally impede smooth reading. The majority of sentences contain minor structural or morphological errors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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