Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27

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 plans below shows before and after designed the cafeteria of the college .the cafeteria before redesign look like a simple and short area .in cafeteria kitchen is located in the college corner side.in the kitchen there is only the serving area of all kids of food and drink .in the left side of the kitchen there is staff dining rooms tables and chairs are available where the staff of the college eat something in their free time.there ia a dustbin and have one toilet on the side of the cafeteria.

but after redesigned the cafeteria look is very unique and beautiful because kitchen divides in portion one portion is for hot meals other one is salad bar means vegetarian food and the other section is for the barbecue .the staff room is also redesign one side is for the take away food and the other one is the coffee bar.There is also recycling bins are available the toilet are in the same place.Outside of the kitchen is seating area for the students and teachers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to summarise the main changes between the two plans, noting modifications such as the division of the kitchen into hot meals, a salad bar, and a barbecue area, as well as the replacement of staff rooms with a takeaway food counter and coffee bar. However, the report lacks a clear overview paragraph summarising the main trends or overall transformations. Furthermore, some descriptions are inaccurate or confused, such as stating that 'outside of the kitchen is seating area' when the outdoor seating is located along the southern wall, and missing the relocation of the bin to recycling bins on the eastern wall. Because the information is somewhat disjointed and lacks a comprehensive overview, it fits best at Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text suffers from poor paragraphing and severely deficient punctuation. The entire response is essentially written in two massive blocks of text with inadequate capitalisation and spacing after full stops (e.g., '.the cafeteria before redesign look like'). While there is a basic chronological contrast between the first and second paragraphs ('The plans below shows' versus 'but after redesigned'), the lack of standard cohesive devices and poor mechanical organisation make the progression difficult to follow. Logical sequencing is present on a basic level, but cohesion is heavily impacted by the formatting and mechanical errors, justifying a Band 4.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple terms like 'area', 'room', 'food', and 'drink'. There are also awkward word choices and phrasing, such as 'before and after designed', 'short area', and 'kids of food' (instead of 'kinds'). Attempts at less common vocabulary are limited and often inaccurate. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey a general idea of the physical changes, the restricted range and frequent lexical errors limit the score to Band 4.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response contains numerous grammatical errors and a very limited range of sentence structures. There are persistent issues with subject-verb agreement ('The plans below shows', 'the toilet are'), missing articles ('in cafeteria kitchen', 'is seating area'), incorrect verb forms ('before and after designed', 'after redesigned'), and run-on sentences joined improperly or lacking punctuation. Complex structures are attempted but are consistently faulty. These frequent errors cause considerable strain for the reader, placing the grammar firmly at a Band 4.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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