Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-11

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 5.5)

The proposed plan shows old and new view after significant changes of a college cafe.

Overall, there are many new facilities and alternatives in new design of cafe. After entering into cafe staff dining rooms changed into takeaway food and a coffee bar. Salad bar inside and barbecue bar with outdoor seating is major facility to be added.

In old cafe design bin replaced with recycling bin in new plan. staff dining room turned into take away food and coffee bar while tables and chairs area remain same. However inside kitchen serving area got new name as hot meals.

Salad bar new item introduced just opposite to kitchen.In addition, two new setup for entries one beside toilets and other just at the last . Outdoor seating along with barbecue setup made todays cafe more attractive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement score. While you have identified some key features of the cafe redesign, such as the addition of the salad bar and the barbecue area, the summary is incomplete. You have missed several details, such as the relocation of the entrance and the specific changes to the seating layout. The overview is also quite brief and lacks a clear synthesis of the overall transformation. To improve, ensure you cover all major changes shown in the diagrams and provide a more comprehensive summary of the spatial reorganization.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the logical progression is sometimes hindered by awkward phrasing and a lack of cohesive devices. For example, the transition between the description of the staff room and the kitchen area is abrupt. While you use some linking words like 'In addition' and 'However', the overall flow is somewhat mechanical. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices to link your sentences and ensure that each paragraph has a clear, singular focus that contributes to the overall summary.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety expected at higher bands. You rely on basic descriptors like 'new item' or 'major facility'. There are also some issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'two new setup for entries' and 'at the last', which are not standard English. To improve, try to use more specific terminology related to spatial descriptions, such as 'relocated', 'transformed', 'adjacent to', or 'situated'. Expanding your range of descriptive adjectives and nouns will help you convey the changes more accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, particularly regarding article usage ('the' is often missing) and pluralization ('two new setup'). Sentence structures are mostly simple, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. For instance, 'Salad bar new item introduced just opposite to kitchen' is grammatically incomplete. To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction, including the correct use of articles and subject-verb agreement. Additionally, try to incorporate more complex structures, such as relative clauses or passive voice, to describe the changes in the cafe more effectively.

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

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