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 plans illustarte a college cafe before and after the completion of renovation.
In general, the college cafe goes through a drastic changes with the addition of barbecue, outdoor seating, coffee bar and many more, while kitchen and toilets remain unchanged depite the renovation.
Staff dining rooms and serving area were replaced by take away food, coffee bar and hot meals respectively. In contrast, salad bar is introduced in western corner of cafe, while bin size got expanded. The center area of cafe (tables and chairs), toilets and kitchen remained unchanged even after the completion of design.
On the other hand, two door is constructed which leads to the outdoor seating fully furnished with tables and chairs arranged properly. Moreover, barbecue is constructed outside the college cafetria in the southern area of salad bar.
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 has attempted to summarise the main changes shown in the two maps of the college cafe, identifying key additions such as the outdoor seating, barbecue, and coffee bar, as well as features that remained unchanged. An overview is present in the second paragraph, though it is slightly informal. Crucially, the response falls below the word count requirement, containing only 134 words against the 150-word minimum. This under-length restriction caps the maximum achievable band for this criterion. Additionally, some details like the 'bin size got expanded' misinterpret the visual data where recycling bins replaced the single bin.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organised into four paragraphs, including a brief introduction and an overview. Logical sequencing is generally maintained using transitions such as 'In general', 'In contrast', and 'On the other hand'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally awkward, such as the sudden shift into the final paragraph. Paragraphing is used, but the overall structure could flow better if ideas were grouped more logically by spatial layout or category of change rather than isolated features.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'drastic changes', 'renovation', and 'unmodified' (though used implicitly). There are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, for example, 'illustarte' instead of 'illustrate', and 'cafetria' instead of 'cafeteria'. Vocabulary is minimally sufficient to convey the intended meaning, but the repetition of basic verbs like 'constructed' and 'remained' limits the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'the college cafe goes through a drastic changes' (incorrect article/pluralisation) and 'two door is constructed' (subject-verb agreement error with plural noun and singular verb). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical inaccuracies persist and occasionally distract the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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