Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)
The given two plans illustrate cafe how transformed before and after.Firstly, before cafe redesign it has limited features such as kitchen,toilets,staff dining rooms,tables and chairs it look more speciase before cafe design.However,today cafe feature there are many new features has been added like,on the top of the side just below the kitchen there has hot meals on the other hand,in the central area it has take away food and coffee bar have been designed.moreover in the right side of the corner there is a recyclling bins however,in the left side of the corner just below the salad bar it has Barbecue furthermore,out side of the map there are several types of outdoor seatings.finally,the cafe has become more advanced there are many features has added it look now very featurestic and also developed before the cafe has much speciase however in today cafe there is a less speciase and it look more featurestic**
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to summarise the main changes between the two plans, noting features such as the kitchen, hot meals area, take away food, coffee bar, salad bar, outdoor seating, and barbecue. However, the organisation of information is quite chaotic and fails to present a clear, structured overview or logical grouping of features. Several details are muddled, and comparisons are superficial. The overall summary of changes is weak, lacking clear synthesis of how the space transformed from a staff-oriented layout to a customer-focused dining facility. It meets the minimum word count of 150 words, but the development of ideas remains quite limited and under-developed, aligning with Band 5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0
The text lacks proper paragraphing, presented as a single dense block of text, which severely impacts readability and structural organisation. There is no clear overall progression or logical sequencing of ideas; instead, features are listed in a random, run-on manner using basic and sometimes awkward cohesive devices like 'Firstly', 'However', 'moreover', and 'furthermore'. Referencing is also confusing at times, such as 'on the top of the side just below the kitchen'. This lack of paragraph structure and cohesive control places the response firmly in Band 4.
Lexical Resource — Band 4.5
Vocabulary is basic and repetitive, with frequent misuse of terms and non-standard collocations. The student relies heavily on simple words and phrases such as 'features', 'place', 'speciase' (spelling error for space), and 'featurestic' (invented word). There are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, such as 'recyclling' and 'out side'. While some task-specific terms from the prompt are successfully utilised (e.g., 'kitchen', 'coffee bar', 'barbecue'), the overall lexical range is limited and inadequate for a higher band, justifying a score of 4.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0
The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, consisting mostly of poorly controlled run-on sentences joined by commas rather than proper conjunctions or full stops. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing auxiliary verbs ('it look more speciase'), incorrect tense usage ('has transformed before and after'), subject-verb agreement issues ('there has hot meals'), and faulty sentence architecture. These persistent errors frequently strain the reader and obscure meaning, placing the response at Band 4.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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