Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23
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 illustrate the look of a educational institute cafe before and after reconstructed it.
Overall, numerous significant changes have been made in coffeeshop. They added a new outdoor seating area along with barbecue food. Moreover, they added significant new food shops including a coffee bar, hot meals, salad bar and take away food.
Before reconstructing, on the top of cafe there was a kitchen and below it there was a area to serve food and drink. In main hall, tables and chairs were arrange and on right side of it there was a dustrbin. Moreover, two staff dining rooms were also denovated. And toilets were a bottom right corner of the cafe.
After rebiliding, on the outside of cafe a seating area was built and on right side of seating they construct a barbecue.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the two plans by outlining changes such as the addition of an outdoor seating area, a barbecue, and new food counters like the coffee bar and salad bar. However, the response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, stopping at 135 words. Furthermore, the description remains quite brief and incomplete, failing to fully detail all of the significant transformations present in the visual data, such as the removal of the staff dining rooms and the replacement of the general serving area with specific hot meal and takeaway counters. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a basic overall progression, moving from an introductory overview to descriptions of the original layout and then the redesigned layout. Paragraphing is attempted, with separate paragraphs for the introduction, general trends, and specific features. However, cohesive devices are quite repetitive and mechanical (e.g., using 'moreover' and directional phrases repeatedly). Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'before reconstructing' without a clear subject. Overall arrangement is coherent enough to follow, but cohesion suffers from frequent awkwardness.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic description of the maps, utilizing terms like 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'salad bar', and 'outdoor seating'. However, there are numerous lexical and word-form errors throughout the text, such as 'reconstructed it' instead of 'being reconstructed', 'coffeeshop' instead of 'café', 'dustrbin' instead of 'dustbin', 'denovated' instead of 'renovated', and 'rebiliding' instead of 'rebuilding'. These inaccuracies limit the lexical range and occasionally distract the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are several noticeable grammatical errors, such as 'the look of a educational institute cafe' (incorrect article 'an'), 'before and after reconstructed it' (incorrect verb form), and 'tables and chairs were arrange' (passive voice error). Punctuation is generally basic. While the meaning is usually still retrievable, frequent errors across basic and complex sentences prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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