Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22
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 plans illustrates the renovation of the college cafe before redesign and till present
Overall, The major portion is the newly design barbecue section in which tables and seats are arrange at outside in the south direction of the cafe. whereas the stafff dining rooms is removed and replaced with two different sections, it called take away counter and coffe bar. In addition , salad bar is also introduced in the main halls. Kitchen and recycling bin has slight changes and toilet remained same
In previous layout the cafe was simple, there was small bin can in east direction it replace into recycling bin and toilet remained unchanged. one more counter is added in the main centre hall is salad bar. and Kitchen area has slight change in serving area, which it converted into hot meal section.
In addition, there are two section added in the staff dining room is the take away and coffee bar counter. One major change is additiion barbecue session in the north ward direction of the college cafe with extra tables and chairs
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 address the task by describing the main features of the college cafe before and after the redesign, meeting the word count requirement with 178 words. However, there are several misinterpretations of the visual data. For instance, the outdoor seating and barbecue are located on the southern wall, but the student mistakenly refers to the north direction twice ("in the south direction... in the north ward direction"). Furthermore, the overview lacks clarity. While the response identifies several key modifications such as the removal of staff dining rooms for a takeaway counter and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, and outdoor seating, the numerous directional inaccuracies and limited synthesis of trends prevent the score from reaching a higher band. It satisfies the basic requirements for a Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is divided into four paragraphs, which attempts to structure the comparison between the past and present layouts. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by poor cohesive devices and mechanical phrasing, such as starting paragraphs with repetitive connectors like "In addition" and "In previous layout". Referencing is occasionally unclear, and pronoun or article usage is missing or inaccurate, such as "the plans illustrates", "it called take away counter", and "there was small bin can in east direction it replace into recycling bin". Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion within sentences is faulty, leading to a choppy and mechanical reading experience that aligns with Band 5.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a limited but minimally adequate vocabulary range to describe the changes, using terms such as "renovation", "counter", "recycling bin", and "barbecue section". However, there are noticeable lexical errors, incorrect word forms, and spelling mistakes throughout the text, including "stafff", "coffe bar", "additiion", and "north ward". Word choice is often repetitive and basic, relying heavily on simple verbs like "is removed", "is added", and "remained same". These errors and the restricted range of vocabulary cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect the characteristics of a Band 5.0 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ("The plans illustrates", "tables and seats are arrange at outside"), missing articles ("in east direction", "in main halls"), and run-on sentences with comma splices ("whereas the stafff dining rooms is removed and replaced with two different sections, it called take away counter and coffe bar"). Punctuation and capitalization are also erratic (e.g., lowercase letters at the start of sentences like "whereas" following a comma). Because errors are frequent and occasionally cause comprehension difficulty, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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