Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 diagram provide a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Overall, the plans show a college cafe before and today. There are several changes in the college cafe.kitchen and toilets are same. There are many facilities are enhanced in today college. Seating area are different as compare to before.

First of all, kitchen is one the top of diagram. They are alternative in today cafe. But serving area is similar before and today. When the teachers teach the students continously then they teachers are resting in rest area. The biggest changed in staff dining rooms for the college staff and the other hand cafe today is provide the take away food and coffee bar for the college students.

In contrace, cafe today represented the outdoor seating and barbecue for the college student. There is not equal in before cafe. Outdoor seating for the excellent option for the student. Salad bar are newly intoduced the today cafe and recycling bin before and today cafe is equivalen.t

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task only partially, presenting a rudimentary summary of the changes in the college cafe. While the candidate attempts to report the main features, such as the kitchen remaining in the upper-left corner and the addition of outdoor seating, a barbecue, and a salad bar, the information is presented in a limited and somewhat confusing manner. For instance, the reference to staff dining rooms being replaced by take away food and a coffee bar is partially understood, but the explanation regarding teachers resting is irrelevant to the visual data. The overview is overly simplistic, and key comparisons are under-developed or missing. To move up, the writer needs to select and report key features more accurately and present a clearer, more fully developed overview without introducing irrelevant personal commentary or inaccurate data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is some basic organisation with the use of introductory and contrasting phrases like 'Overall,' 'First of all,' and 'In contrace,' but the response lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas is disjointed, and sentences often feel disconnected. Cohesive devices are inadequate, inaccurate, or over-used, leading to a mechanical flow. For example, referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'They are alternative in today cafe.' To achieve a higher band, the writer must ensure a logical progression of ideas throughout the response, use a wider and more accurate variety of cohesive devices, and structure paragraphs so that each focuses on a distinct set of features from the visual data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task. The writer relies heavily on basic terms and repeats words from the prompt, such as 'college cafe', 'kitchen', and 'tables and chairs'. There are noticeable lexical errors and inappropriate word choices, such as 'contrace' instead of 'contrast', 'equivalen.t' with punctuation errors, and awkward phrases like 'salad bar are newly intoduced the today cafe'. These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted lexical range. To improve, the writer should incorporate a wider variety of vocabulary with precise word choices, improve spelling accuracy, and learn correct collocations for describing spatial changes in diagrams.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent errors. Attempts at complex or compound sentences often result in faulty structures and poor control over grammar and punctuation. Examples of frequent errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('The diagram provide', 'Seating area are'), incorrect prepositions ('kitchen is one the top of diagram'), and missing articles ('in today college'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader and occasionally obscure the intended meaning. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to produce a greater variety of complex structures with higher accuracy, paying closer attention to verb forms, plurals, articles, and basic sentence construction.

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

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