Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-24
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 picture distinguish the college cafe prior to redesign and as of today
Overall, the cafe has simple layout, in the center wide customer area with tables and chairs infront that staff dining rooms located. The kitchen has serving area for food and drinks. After desinging, outdoor seating provided, constructed take away counters and coffee section. It also has barbeque, saladbar and extend toilet and bins space.
The cafe before redesign, on the north kitchen is located with serving area of all food and drink, coming to center part of cafe, spacious tables and chairs provided for customers. Right infront of that staff dinning room were available. On the east side, provisioin of entry and exit doors, and a waste bin adjustant to door. Lastly, on the southeast toilets were made.
As of today, the cafe has totaly changed, firstly in the centre tables and chairs remained in same place, the bins space is extended and now is recycling bins. Beside to the toilets an entry is provided and on the west side salad bar constructed, and a exit door on the southwest going out of the cafe where large outdoor seating is installed with barbeque. Finally, the staff dinning rooms and serving area of food and drink were changed to take away hot meals, food counter and coffee bar respectively.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the task by describing the main changes between the college cafe before and after its redesign. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, though it is rather fragmented. Key features are reported, such as the addition of the outdoor seating, barbecue, salad bar, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into take-away and coffee facilities. However, there are some inaccuracies and omissions in reading the plan; for instance, the student states that the bins are extended and recycling bins are placed there, but misses some spatial relationships. The progression lacks clarity in places due to confusing phrasing, but the main features are generally identified. This performance aligns with Band 5.5 descriptors, as it addresses the task partially with some under-developed ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text is divided into four paragraphs, attempting an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for the 'before' and 'after' states. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by awkward transitions and poor sentence structure. For example, phrases like 'Coming to center part of cafe' and 'As of today, the cafe has totaly changed' feel mechanical and disjointed. Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult to follow spatial relationships. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion lacks smooth transitions. This fits the Band 5 descriptor well, where organisation is present but overall progression is lacking and cohesive devices are often inadequate or inaccurate.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses a limited range of vocabulary relevant to describing a map, such as 'redesign', 'kitchen', 'tables and chairs', and 'salad bar'. However, there are numerous word choice and collocation errors, such as 'The picture distinguish' instead of 'distinguishes', 'extend toilet and bins space', and 'provisioin of entry and exit doors'. Spelling errors also occur, such as 'barbeque' (spelled correctly in the prompt as barbecue), 'dinning' instead of 'dining', and 'totaly'. The vocabulary is minimally adequate for conveying basic information, but frequent errors place this firmly in the Band 5 category.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors, missing articles, and incorrect prepositions throughout the text. Examples include 'in the center wide customer area with tables and chairs infront that staff dining rooms located' (missing verbs and awkward word order), 'outdoor seating provided, constructed take away counters' (passive/active confusion and missing subjects), and 'a exit door' (incorrect article usage). These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and impede fluent comprehension, matching the Band 5 descriptor.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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