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 college cafe made some changes in cafe and it was redesigned for college students.

To begin with, Staff dinning rooms has changed to taken away food and coffee bar area, Furthermore serving area for all foods and drink are replaced by hot meals. In addition to this size of recyclebin increase because the customer increase, Moreover the outdoor seating has expand for customers, The new barbecue area will be located in the cafe beside from the outdoor seating. The salad bar area is newly constructed where the tables and chairs are located beside it to the left. Outdoor seating creates a good impression to the visiting public.

In conclusion, the staff dinning room has changed to taken away and coffee bar areas, barbecue and salad bar is also introduced to their customers. The outdoor seating increase for college students.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially and falls short of the minimum length requirement of 150 words, containing only 140 words. While some key changes between the two plans are mentioned—such as the staff dining rooms being replaced by a take-away food and coffee bar area, and the introduction of a salad bar and barbecue area—the information is presented in a somewhat limited and under-developed manner. Furthermore, the inclusion of personal commentary such as 'Outdoor seating creates a good impression to the visiting public' is inappropriate for an Academic Task 1 response, as it goes beyond objective summarisation and reporting of visual data. To achieve a higher band, the response must meet the word count, maintain an objective academic tone without personal opinions, and provide a more fully developed overview of the spatial transformations shown in the plans.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organisation in the response, beginning with an introductory sentence, followed by body details, and concluding with a summary statement. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the arrangement feels mechanical and repetitive, with the conclusion largely restating points already made in the body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used minimally or somewhat inaccurately, such as repetitive transitions like 'Furthermore' and 'Moreover', which are punctuated incorrectly with commas instead of full stops or semicolons. Paragraphing is attempted, but sentences are often linked loosely together. To improve in this criterion, the writing needs a clearer logical flow, better integration of cohesive devices, and a more sophisticated structuring of sentences to guide the reader smoothly through the comparison of the two floor plans.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common terms related to the visual data, such as 'redesigned', 'newly constructed', and 'barbecue area', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice and word formation, such as 'dinning' instead of dining, 'taken away' instead of take-away, and 'recyclebin' written as one word. Collocations are also occasionally awkward, such as 'size of recyclebin increase'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips can cause some difficulty for the reader. To reach a higher band, the response needs a wider range of precise vocabulary, correct word forms, and accurate spelling when describing changes and spatial relationships in the diagrams.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic subject-verb-object patterns. Attempts at more complex structures or passive voice—which is typically useful for describing changes to a building—are either absent or faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'Staff dinning rooms has changed', 'outdoor seating has expand') and incorrect prepositions and verb forms (e.g., 'beside from', 'The outdoor seating increase'). Punctuation is also weak, with comma splices frequently joining independent clauses where full stops or conjunctions are required. To improve, the student must demonstrate a better control of verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and complex sentence formations with fewer errors.

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

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