Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 illustrate a college cafe before it was redsigned and now how it looks.

Overall, there are lots of changing in the cafe. Initilay, the old cafe was not developed it is very simple and not many sources. Firstly kitchen is remain changed while in front of serving area was changed into a hot meals. In addition, in the hall staff dining rooms are changed and convert into two parts take away food and coffee bar. These both rooms are significant changed.

Moreover, in the side of wall add a salad bar. Whereas in mid table and charis are unchanged. On the right of wall the bin marginally convert into recycling bins. Addionally, in the bottom of room toilets are leve off.. In the outside of cafe in the left coner barbecue add and dramatically change is that they add outdoor seating for people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to summarise the main features of the two plans, noting transformations such as the change from staff dining rooms to a takeaway food and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, outdoor seating, and a barbecue area. However, the text falls short of the minimum 150-word requirement, clocking in at 145 words, which incurs a penalty. Furthermore, the overview is extremely basic and lacks precision, stating simply that "there are lots of changing in the cafe". Important comparisons are underdeveloped, and the description relies heavily on fragmented lists rather than a cohesive report of spatial changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text is organized into a brief introduction and two poorly structured body blocks, but paragraphing is erratic and difficult to follow. The student attempts basic cohesive devices such as "Overall", "Firstly", and "Moreover", but their use is frequently mechanical and grammatically awkward (e.g., "Initilay", "Addionally"). Progression is hindered by choppy, disconnected sentences that fail to establish clear spatial relationships between features. Referencing is also weak, making it hard for the reader to track locations accurately without referring constantly to the visual stimulus.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary is very limited and basic, containing frequent spelling and word-choice errors that impede communication. Examples include "redsigned" for redesigned, "Initilay" for initially, "sources" for resources, and "leve off" for left off. The student struggles to employ less common lexical items accurately, relying on repetitive and rudimentary terms like "changed", "rooms", and "wall". Collocations are frequently unnatural, such as "in the side of wall add a salad bar" and "dramatically change is that they add outdoor seating".

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The grammatical range is severely restricted, consisting predominantly of simple sentences and flawed attempts at more complex structures. There are persistent, fundamental errors in word order, verb forms, and active/passive voice. For instance, the student writes "kitchen is remain changed", "the old cafe was not developed it is very simple", and "the bin marginally convert into recycling bins". Punctuation and sentence boundaries are poorly managed, resulting in run-on phrases and structural fragmentation that frequently cause difficulty for the reader.

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