Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 two diagram illustrate the before and after cafe in the college and now look change in the before cafe.

Overall, the cafe look are minior changes in the outdoor seating or staff dining rooms of before and after cafe.

Moreover, the look of the before cafe like kitchen or serving area are located on the north-west corner. The staff dining rooms is merged on the north- side and the toilet is located on the south-east corner. A bin is also available on the before cafe cafe are located on the north side near the toilet. The tables and chairs are also located in the centre of the before cafe.

In the above, the outdoor seating or barbecue are available on the south-side in the after cafe. The food and coffee bar are separated into two rooms. The kitchen or hot meals are located on the nort-east side. The salad bar is also available on the East- side of after cafe.The recycling bins are also available on the west side of the after cafe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several relevant changes, including the addition of outdoor seating and a barbecue, the new food and coffee sections, and the continued presence of the kitchen and toilets. However, the overview is unclear and calls the changes “minor,” despite substantial redesign, including the former staff dining rooms being replaced and new facilities added. Some locations are also inaccurate: the bin was on the eastern wall near the toilets, not the north side; the recycling bins remain on the eastern wall, not the west; and the salad bar is on the western wall, not the east. To strengthen the response, give a clear overview of the main changes and compare the plans accurately, including the southern outdoor area and the central seating that remains unchanged.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to descriptions of the former and current café. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “Moreover” and “In the above” attempt to connect ideas. However, progression is not consistently clear: the overview is difficult to interpret, and the final paragraph groups several features without a clear spatial order. Repetition of “before cafe” and “after cafe,” along with the unclear reference “In the above,” also makes connections less effective. Organise the details by area—for example, north, central space, and south—and use straightforward comparisons such as “whereas” or “while” to show what changed and what stayed the same.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “kitchen,” “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “tables and chairs,” and “outdoor seating.” These terms help identify the main features, but the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which can make the layout harder to understand. For example, “the staff dining rooms is merged” does not clearly describe their replacement, and “the cafe look are minior changes” is not an effective way to summarise the redesign. There are also spelling and word-form problems, such as “minior” and “nort-east.” Build a more precise set of map-description phrases, including “was replaced by,” “was added,” “along the western wall,” and “remained unchanged.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response relies mainly on short, simple statements, with limited evidence of controlled complex sentence structures. Frequent errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For instance, “The two diagram illustrate” has a plural agreement error, while “the cafe look are” combines incompatible verb forms. In “The staff dining rooms is merged,” the verb does not agree with the plural subject, and the sentence structure does not clearly express the change. Some sentences also run together, as in the description of the bin and toilets. Practise accurate simple comparisons first, then add clauses using “while” or “whereas”; check subject–verb agreement and make sure each sentence has a clear subject and verb.

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