Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-25
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)
This plan illustrates about the renowation of college cafe includes with the design plans of older and newer cafe design.
The Cafe looks quiet simple before the renowation with some conjutions, after redesign the cafe has much more amenities.
Overall, Cafe before the redesign includes seating only for the faculty with a serve area for students connected to the kitchen.
Conversely, The new Caffeteria includes salar bar and Barbecue at the south-west of the design.
Staff dining rooms was replaced with Take away and coffee bar. It has a significant advancement with Barbecue accessible with outdoor seating. Helps in more seating, Design changed the allocated space for recycling bins where bins replaced with more area. Todays Cafe had significant changes compared to the older design.
By the end of design, both the designs converged at approximately including more stalls, remaining area for toilets and kitchen with much more space inclusion for other stalls.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response addresses the task by describing the main features of the cafe before and after the redesign. However, the overview is somewhat weak and lacks a clear summary of the most significant changes. While the student identifies specific additions like the salad bar and barbecue, the description of the layout is occasionally confusing, such as the vague reference to 'some conjutions' and the unclear description of the recycling bin area. To reach a higher band, ensure that the main trends and the most striking differences are highlighted more clearly in the introduction or overview, and provide a more structured comparison between the two plans.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is hindered by awkward phrasing and a lack of cohesive devices. Transitions between sentences are often abrupt, such as the jump from the salad bar to the staff dining room. The use of linking words is limited, and some sentences, particularly the final paragraph, are difficult to follow due to unclear referencing. Improving the use of cohesive devices like 'furthermore', 'in contrast', and 'subsequently' would help guide the reader through the comparison more effectively.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but contains several spelling errors ('renowation', 'Caffeteria', 'salar bar') and word choice inaccuracies ('conjutions', 'converged at approximately'). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited, relying on basic descriptors. To improve, focus on using more precise terminology related to layout and design, such as 'relocated', 'expanded', 'partitioned', or 'integrated'. Proofreading for spelling is essential, as these errors occasionally distract from the content.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('Staff dining rooms was replaced'), incorrect article usage, and awkward sentence construction ('This plan illustrates about the renowation'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary capitalisation and missing commas. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic sentence structure and subject-verb agreement will significantly improve the clarity of the report.
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.