Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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 main difference is that they added a rycycling bin instead of a normal bin a salad bar is now added and a place to sit outsidethe there was only one enterence before but there are three enterences now one is at the place near the toilets and outside seating area and one is near the barbeque place a coffe bar and a takeaway food station is at the place where there used to be staff dining rooms and there is a barbecue place there is a seprate place for food and drinks the seating area is much larger and can fit many more people then before it looks much more lively now the cafe before redesigning was a bit smaller but the cafe after redesigning is much larger and better

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response identifies several key changes between the two plans, such as the addition of a salad bar, recycling bins, outdoor seating, and a barbecue area. However, the text falls short of the required 150-word minimum, containing only 131 words, which incurs a direct penalty under Task Achievement. Furthermore, some of the descriptions lack precision or misread the visual data, such as claiming there are three entrances where previously there was only one, whereas the plans show doors and layouts differently. The overview is overly simplistic, and the overall development remains limited and under-developed due to the missing word count and lack of a structured paragraph format.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response is written as a single, unpunctuated block of text without proper sentence boundaries, capitalisation, or paragraphing. There is a complete lack of cohesive devices, with sentences simply strung together using conjunctions like 'and'. For instance, writing 'the main difference is that they added a rycycling bin instead of a normal bin a salad bar is now added and a place to sit outsidethe there was only one enterence...' demonstrates a lack of basic punctuation and logical paragraph structure. Progression is difficult to follow because of run-on sentences and missing transitional phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, relying on elementary terms such as 'added', 'place', and 'larger'. There are several spelling errors, including 'rycycling' instead of recycling, 'enterence' instead of entrance, and 'seprate' instead of separate. The student attempts a few task-related terms like 'salad bar', 'barbecue place', and 'coffe bar', but the overall lexical range is narrow and restricted, demonstrating minimal adequacy for an academic task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

Grammatical control is poor. The entire response consists of run-on sentences with a total absence of periods, commas, and capital letters, making it a single continuous string of clauses. There are frequent errors in sentence structure, such as missing subjects or awkwardly joined clauses ('...the cafe before redesigning was a bit smaller but the cafe after redesigning is much larger and better'). Complex structures are entirely absent, and basic punctuation rules are disregarded throughout the text.

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