Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The maps illustrate a college cafe before and after redesigning and how it's look changes.

Overall, cafe is changed considerably after modification. Several new sections are added such as salad bar,barbecue, and outdoor seating and some of them are replaced existing sections like hot meals take away food and coffee bar. Bins changed with recycling bin.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response falls well below the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, stopping at only 56 words. Because of this extreme brevity, the task is addressed only minimally and very partially. While the student attempts to highlight a few changes—such as the addition of a salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating—the overview is extremely basic and lacks any detailed selection or meaningful reporting of the main features shown in the diagrams. To improve significantly, the response must expand substantially to cover all key structural transformations and comparisons between the two plans, ensuring proper development of ideas and meeting the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text shows some basic organizational structure by attempting an introductory sentence and a brief overview paragraph. However, the overall progression is severely limited by the brevity of the response. Cohesive devices are basic and sparse, relying on simple connectors like 'Overall' and 'and'. There is no effective paragraphing structure that allows for a logical flow of ideas, as the entire summary is condensed into just two short sentences. To move to a higher band, the student needs to group information logically into distinct paragraphs, use a wider variety of cohesive devices to link spatial relationships and contrasts, and maintain a clear progression of information throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, such as 'cafe', 'changed', 'added', and 'sections'. There are noticeable word choice and collocation issues, for instance, writing 'redesigning and how it's look changes' instead of natural phrasing. Less common lexical items are attempted minimally, such as 'modification', but overall the range is restricted and insufficient for a fully developed academic task. To achieve a higher score, the student must incorporate a wider range of precise, task-specific vocabulary related to spatial changes, such as 'demolished', 'converted', 'relocated', and 'expanded', while ensuring correct word formation and collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, consisting mostly of simple and somewhat faulty clauses. There are noticeable grammatical errors, such as 'how it's look changes', missing articles (e.g., 'cafe is changed'), and incorrect prepositions or conjunctions when listing modifications. Punctuation is also basic. To improve, the student needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex sentence structures with good control over verb tenses, passive voice (commonly needed for describing map changes, e.g., 'was replaced by'), and accurate article usage to ensure that grammatical errors do not impede overall communication.

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

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