Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-21

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.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 4.5)

The diagram illustrates the cafe before and after it was redeseigned.

SO, first talk about the how the cafe was looks before redesigning. Cafe was looks so simple with tables and chairs. It had just kitchen and serving area. It had a toilet in a corner and a two room consisted staff dining area. Basically, if we enetred form the front door first thing we saw a elevated type staff room inside it. Then chiars and tables were we can sit.

After, redesigning cafe is more big and looks more vacant. IT has now separate coffee bar if somone juts come for coffee then it vacant the seats for people who come for food. It has separate salad bar where you can make by your own choice. The take away room is now separate with door. Now you can enjoy hot meals which before become cold beacuse of quene It has outside seating also which includes barbecue. If someone wants barbecue then outdoor seating is best. The redesigned cafe has now three doors which helps in more rush time.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to summarise the plans by describing the key features of the college cafe before and after the redesign, noting additions such as the coffee bar, salad bar, outdoor seating, and barbecue. However, the response falls short of fully satisfying the task requirements due to several underdeveloped points and subjective commentary not present in the visual data, such as claiming that hot meals previously became cold because of queues, or speculating on why people use specific areas. Furthermore, the selection of features misses some important structural details, leading to an overall band score of 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.5

The text demonstrates a basic level of organisation, attempting to contrast the past layout with the current one. However, the structure is hindered by abrupt transitions and informal interjections, such as 'SO, first talk about...'. Paragraphing is poorly controlled, resulting in a single block of text that lacks clear logical progression. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused (e.g., 'After, redesigning cafe is more big...'), which disrupts the flow of information and makes it difficult for the reader to follow the comparison smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The lexical range is limited and repetitive. The student relies heavily on basic vocabulary and incorrect word forms, such as 'redeseigned', 'enetred', 'chiars', and 'vacant' used as a verb. Phrases like 'more big' and 'more vacant' demonstrate a lack of control over comparative structures and appropriate adjectives. While the text includes some task-specific terms copied from the prompt (e.g., 'salad bar', 'coffee bar'), the overall vocabulary control is weak and contains noticeable errors that occasionally impede understanding.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5

The grammatical range is extremely limited, relying predominantly on simple sentences with frequent structural errors. There are numerous basic mistakes involving verb tenses, articles, and word order, such as 'Cafe was looks so simple', 'a two room consisted staff dining area', and 'make by your own choice'. Complex structures are rarely attempted, and when they are, they are typically faulty. Punctuation and capitalisation errors (e.g., 'SO', 'IT') further detract from the overall accuracy of the writing.

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

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