Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28
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 entrance of the cafe is as same as before. Kitchen also there is nothing change in Kitchen just serving area is now for meals. Salad bar is made like the cafe was redesign. The large space is for sitting where tables and chair are placed. But in old cafe there is private area for staff known as staff dining room. Now in this room they made Take away food counter and the coffee bar. Today the cafe is bigger than the old one. Because now the outdoor seating area is made and the barbecue counter is also added in the cafe for the outdoor sitting. There were five tables placed and along with the table minimum four and maximum six chairs were placed. The small bins had changed with the big recycling bins were placed and in the container there are toilets for common use.Today the cafe is much bigger than before it was redesign.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 4.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.0 |
| Overall | 4.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response attempts to describe the changes shown in the two maps of the college cafe, covering several key features such as the kitchen, the dining rooms converted into a takeaway and coffee bar, the new salad bar, and the outdoor seating area. However, the information is presented in a somewhat disjointed and repetitive manner. For instance, the writer repeats multiple times that the cafe is bigger than before. Additionally, some details are imprecise or inaccurate, such as claiming the entrance is 'as same as before' when the maps show no entrance changes explicitly, and providing a confusing description of tables and chairs. Overall, the task is addressed only partially, as the development of ideas is limited and lacks a clear overview.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
The response lacks clear overall progression and paragraphing, consisting of a single block of sentences that jump between different areas of the cafe without a logical sequence. Cohesive devices are very basic and sometimes inaccurate, such as 'Kitchen also there is nothing change' and 'Today the cafe is bigger'. Referencing is also weak, with ambiguous pronouns like 'in this room they made' referring back to plural rooms. While there is a basic attempt to guide the reader through the comparison using temporal markers like 'before' and 'now', the overall organizational structure is inadequate for an IELTS Academic Task 1.
Lexical Resource: Band 4.5
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently relying on simple terms such as 'made', 'placed', 'big', and 'room'. There are noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'for sitting' instead of 'for seating', 'bin had changed with' instead of 'bins were replaced with', and 'outdoor sitting' instead of 'outdoor seating'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'redesigned' and 'recycling', are present, but errors in grammar and word formation strain the reader and limit the lexical range to a minimally adequate level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0
The response contains a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentences with frequent structural errors. There are numerous awkward phrasings and grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'Kitchen also there is nothing change in Kitchen' (faulty word order and missing auxiliary verbs), 'Salad bar is made like the cafe was redesign' (incorrect tense and passive form), and 'The small bins had changed with the big recycling bins were placed' (confused active and passive voice). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are weak, and frequent errors cause considerable difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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