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)

Before the redesign of the college cafe, there was a much less space occupation of space. The dining rooms were in a very cramped up space and did not look comfortable. The serving area was very small in size, which could have subjected too a large and angry crowd of customers. This could have also put very much pressure on the employees as well. After the redesign took place, the college cafe now looks much more organized and falboyant. A new salad bar was introducted in the main room, and the rooms were divided according to what the customer wanted. This eliminated the need for one central serving area, and the space was used up for serivng only hot meals. The dining rooms were turned to very feasible rooms, one being a take away food room and the other one being the the coffee bar. The college cafe also started using the outdoor space for seating and barbeque, which would bring in more customers and also a place for them to eat outside in the fresh air if they want too.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to describe the changes to the college cafe, identifying key features such as the addition of the salad bar, the conversion of staff rooms into a takeaway and coffee bar, and the introduction of outdoor seating and a barbecue. However, the response falls short of a strong Academic Task 1 performance due to inappropriate register and subjective commentary. Phrases like 'cramped up space', 'angry crowd of customers', and 'falboyant' inject personal opinions and speculation rather than maintaining an objective, analytical report of the visual data. Furthermore, there is no introductory overview of the main trends. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed in an academic sense.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is presented as a single block of text rather than being divided into logical paragraphs. An Academic Task 1 report typically requires an introduction with an overview, followed by body paragraphs grouping the changes logically. Because the entire text is lumped together, the overall progression is weak. While basic cohesive devices and referencing pronouns (such as 'one being a take away food room and the other one') are used to connect ideas, the lack of paragraphing and somewhat mechanical transitions restrict the flow and overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for communicating basic ideas, attempting some less common phrases such as 'organized', 'eliminated the need', and 'feasible'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('falboyant' for flamboyant, 'introducted' for introduced, 'serivng' for serving) and word choice inaccuracies ('space occupation of space', 'subjected too'). Furthermore, the tone is inappropriately informal and speculative ('angry crowd', 'fresh air if they want too'). The lexical range is limited and contains errors that occasionally draw attention.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and conditional structures ('if they want too'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors including incorrect prepositions ('subjected too' instead of 'subjected to'), redundant phrasing ('less space occupation of space'), and incorrect homophone usage ('want too' instead of 'want to'). There are also punctuation and phrasing awkwardnesses throughout the text. These errors can cause occasional difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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