Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-24

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 compares the highlights in college cafe about how it looks before and how it looks now .overall, the cafe before redesign was have simple infrastructure.

Before cafe have one negligible kitchen then infront of this they have a serving area for food and drinks . by walking distance there is a huge area for people who visits in cafe where the place commutes tables and chairs ,right infront of this a two staff dining rooms is placed. on the right side of staff dining room there is bin and right infront of bin the toilet is placed .

the redesigned Cafe of today has several changes , cafe replaced serving area for food and drinks to hot meals . staff dining rooms is replaced by takeaway and coffee bar area. on the left side of the takeaway room the salad bar opened and on the left side of coffee bar bin were updated to recycling bins. and they addedd a place for barbecue . where outdoor seating is available for nature lovers . they facilitate a several area f

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the conversion of the serving area to a hot-meal counter, the replacement of staff dining rooms with takeaway and coffee facilities, and the addition of a salad bar, recycling bins, barbecue and outdoor seating. However, the overview is unclear: “simple infrastructure” does not summarise the main transformation, and the response does not clearly distinguish what stayed the same, such as the kitchen, central tables and chairs, and toilets. Some locations are also inaccurate or confusing; for example, the bin was on the eastern wall, not directly in front of the toilets, and the salad bar is on the western wall. The final sentence is unfinished, leaving the report under-developed. A clearer overview and more accurate comparisons would strengthen coverage.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic chronological structure, moving from the original café to its redesigned form, and paragraph breaks help separate these stages. Some linking expressions, such as “Before” and “the redesigned Cafe of today,” make the sequence understandable. However, progression within paragraphs is often difficult to follow because spatial relationships are expressed imprecisely: “by walking distance” and repeated “right infront” do not clearly locate features. The long second paragraph also strings several details together, while the final sentence breaks off at “they facilitate a several area f,” disrupting the conclusion. Use clearer grouping—for example, describe the north and west changes together, then the unchanged central and eastern features and the new southern extension—and use accurate location references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “recycling bins,” “barbecue” and “outdoor seating,” so the reader can identify many features. However, the range is limited and several choices or collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “highlights in college cafe,” “negligible kitchen,” “the place commutes tables and chairs” and “nature lovers.” These expressions sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to interpret. There are also spelling and word-form problems, including “addedd” and “takeaway” used inconsistently as a noun phrase. Aim for precise map language such as “located,” “replaced by,” “remained unchanged” and “was added,” and check spelling and natural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple statements and longer sentences, but control is weak and errors occur throughout. Examples include “The maps compares,” where the subject and verb do not agree, and “the cafe before redesign was have,” which combines incompatible verb forms. Articles and plurals are also unreliable in phrases such as “a two staff dining rooms” and “a several area.” Several sentences lack clear grammatical structure, particularly “where the place commutes tables and chairs,” and punctuation is inconsistent, with spaces before full stops and run-on clauses. These problems sometimes obscure relationships between features. Practise accurate basic sentence patterns first, then build longer comparisons using controlled clauses, consistent past and present forms, and correct subject–verb agreement.

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