Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-21
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 given maps illustrates how a college cafe look before redesign and now.
Overall, the area underwent substantial development. While staff dining rooms and serving area are removed, a number of new outdoor seating are designed, resulting in a more developed and accessible area.
As can be seen, staff dining rooms are replaced with take away food and coffee bar, whereas hot meals takes place of serving area. Salad bar is newly constructed at west of the cafe. In the south-western corner, the barbecue is established. Additionally, new two gates are developed at one near barbecue and second near toilet. In the southern part of cafe, outdoor seating are setting up with multiple chairs and tables.
Moving on, tables and chairs, kitchen and toiled remained at same place in the college cafe. Apart from this, the bin, which is converted into recycling bin and enlarged the place in today's cafe.
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 removal of the staff dining room and the addition of new facilities like the salad bar and barbecue. However, the report lacks a clear overview of the most significant changes, such as the shift from a single-purpose dining area to a more diverse, multi-functional space. While the key features are identified, the description of the layout changes is slightly disjointed. To improve, ensure that the overview highlights the most striking transformations rather than just listing individual changes. The response meets the minimum length requirement, but the analysis could be more cohesive to better highlight the comparative nature of the task.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the progression from the overall summary to specific details. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate, such as 'Apart from this, the bin, which is converted...'. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when describing the location of new features. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect the changes more fluidly. The overall structure is coherent, but the internal cohesion needs more refinement to reach a higher band.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing for the description of the cafe layout. There are some attempts at more specific vocabulary, such as 'substantial development' and 'accessible', but there are also instances of awkward phrasing and word choice errors, such as 'new two gates are developed' instead of 'two new gates were added'. The use of 'take away food' and 'hot meals' is functional but basic. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations related to spatial changes and map descriptions, and ensure that word forms are used correctly in context.
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 subject-verb agreement issues like 'The given maps illustrates' and 'outdoor seating are setting up'. Additionally, there are errors with articles and prepositions, such as 'at west of the cafe' and 'at same place'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are persistent throughout the text. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that articles are used correctly when describing locations on a map.
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.