Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-09
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 illustrate the design of a college cafe before and after redesigning.
In general, the cafe has been designed now with modern facilities, requirements, and ambiance. The environmental, sustainability, and food safety requirements have been improved.
The kitchen area is added with hot meals section replacing serving area (for all food and beverage) maintaining food safety and regulatory requirements. The takeaway food and coffee bar section have been introduced (previous staff dinning rooms) to provide takeaway packed food and fresh coffee to the customers. There is a salad bar section established at the corner providing healthy options to customers. A bin is replaced with multiple recycling bins supporting environment and sustainability. Regarding dine in area, outdoor seating is made available for customers to enjoy the fresh air along with the meal and a live barbeque section refurnishes the outside dine in experience. Common parts are inside seating (table and chairs) and the toilets.
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, such as the kitchen, takeaway area, and outdoor seating. However, the report is somewhat descriptive rather than analytical. It focuses heavily on the 'why' (e.g., 'maintaining food safety') rather than the 'what' (the spatial changes). The instructions ask to report main features and make comparisons, but the comparison between the 'before' and 'after' is slightly obscured by the focus on functional improvements. To reach a higher band, you should focus more on the physical layout changes, such as the removal of the staff dining room and the expansion of the seating area, rather than speculating on the cafe's environmental policies.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is logically organized, moving from a general overview to specific changes. However, the paragraphing is weak; the entire body of the report is contained in a single, dense paragraph, which hinders readability. While there is some use of cohesive devices like 'Regarding' and 'along with', the flow between sentences can feel a bit mechanical. To improve, you should group related features into distinct paragraphs—for example, one paragraph for indoor changes and another for outdoor changes—and use a wider variety of linking words to connect your observations more fluidly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'ambiance', 'sustainability', and 'refurnishes'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, 'The kitchen area is added with hot meals section' is awkward; a more natural phrasing would be 'The kitchen area has been expanded to include a hot meals section'. Additionally, 'Common parts are inside seating' is not the most precise way to describe the layout. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise spatial descriptors would help elevate your score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that, while they do not impede communication, are noticeable. For instance, 'The cafe has been designed now with modern facilities' is slightly unnatural, and 'A bin is replaced with multiple recycling bins' should be 'The single bin has been replaced with multiple recycling bins'. There are also issues with article usage and prepositional phrases. To improve, focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and refining the use of passive voice, which is essential for describing changes in diagrams.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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