Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-05
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 5.5)
The plans below illustrate a collage cafe before its redesigning and after it was redesign.
Overall, the cafe looks more organized after its redesigning. Apart from indoor area, the cafe now has an outdoor sitting area with the barbecue option and a salad bar. While, there has been no major changes in kitchen, toilet area and indoor table and chair area.
To begin with, take away food area and coffee bar area has now been changed to staff dining rooms. The bin area in the east has now been expanded. Additionally, new outdoor sitting area, with few table and chairs is constructed with the option of barbeque and salad bar on the west side of the cafe.
However, there has been no development in the kitchen and toilet areas. Also, kitchen has a seperate serving area for all food and drinks, which was earlier for hot meals only. Moreover, the indoor sitting area also remain same with few table and chairs option.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the cafe redesign, including the addition of the outdoor area and the conversion of the takeaway section. However, the report lacks precision in describing the spatial layout. For instance, stating there were 'no major changes' in the kitchen is slightly inaccurate, as the serving area was modified. The overview is functional but could be more analytical by highlighting the shift from a purely indoor facility to one with outdoor amenities. While the key changes are identified, the description of the 'bin area' and 'staff dining rooms' is somewhat repetitive, and the report would benefit from a more structured comparison between the 'before' and 'after' states.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing specific changes. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Additionally', and 'However' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel forced. For example, the sentence 'While, there has been no major changes...' uses an incorrect comma placement and an awkward conjunction. Referencing is generally clear, but the progression of ideas could be smoother if the changes were grouped more effectively by area (e.g., indoor vs. outdoor) rather than jumping between sections.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the reader to understand the changes described. You use relevant terms like 'redesigning', 'outdoor sitting area', and 'barbecue option'. However, there are several word-choice errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'collage cafe' (likely a misspelling of 'college') and 'after it was redesign' (incorrect verb form). The repetition of 'area' throughout the text limits the range of vocabulary. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise synonyms and avoid repetitive sentence structures that rely on basic nouns.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. Examples include 'collage cafe' instead of 'college cafe', 'after it was redesign' (should be 'redesigned'), and 'there has been no major changes' (subject-verb agreement error: 'have been'). Additionally, 'few table and chairs' should be 'a few tables and chairs'. While the meaning is generally clear, these persistent errors in tense, pluralisation, and subject-verb agreement prevent the writing from reaching a higher band. More attention to proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is required.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.