Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30
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 maps illustrates the modifications that have made in college cafe and how it is at present.
Overall, kitchen, dining area remain same in both designs with some modifications in other areas.
Top left corner of map is kitchen which remain same with its all meal and drink serving area now replaced with hot food area. Staff dining rooms are now changed to take away centre and coffee bar.
The centre was previously a dinning area with tables and chairs which is now ammended and a salad bar is introduced at corner while toilets remained at left corner of dining area. Furthermore outdoor seating is introduced in new design in front of dinning area with barbecue at left corner.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response attempts to summarize the main changes between the two college cafe plans, noting the kitchen, dining area, and the addition of outdoor seating, a salad bar, and a barbecue. However, the text is significantly under-length at 119 words, failing to meet the 150-word minimum requirement. This restricted length prevents a fully developed response, leading to an under-developed overview and limited detail regarding specific layout shifts. According to the band descriptors, an under-length response cannot achieve a score above Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a basic attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, overview, and body details. However, logical progression is hindered by choppy sentence structures and abrupt transitions (e.g., 'Top left corner of map is kitchen which remain same...'). Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes repetitive. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall mechanical flow and weak referencing (such as referencing specific corners without clear anchor points) place this performance firmly at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for a basic description of a map, utilizing terms like 'modifications', 'redesigned', 'serving area', and 'outdoor seating'. However, the range is quite limited, and there are noticeable vocabulary choices and word forms that are awkward or incorrect, such as 'ammended' instead of 'amended' or 'modified', and the missing article in 'The maps illustrates' and 'in college cafe'. These errors do not entirely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is weak. There are several noticeable errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The maps illustrates', 'kitchen which remain same') and missing articles ('in college cafe', 'at corner'). Punctuation is also somewhat neglected. Because attempts at complex structures are frequently faulty and errors cause some difficulty for the reader, this aligns with the Band 5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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