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 design has been change over the period of time of a college moreover, shows how cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now after doing various type of modification in it.
Overall, it is providing us a cafe design that is present in college, however, there are some huge modification made by the architecture to enhance sitting area for those who love to spend their most of the time in cafe.
Firstly, it is clearly seen that the area starts from the right path of the cafe, the first thing that has been seen there is a bin where people usually throw all the waste materials, in contrast, the design changed it to a recycling bins for making eco system safe and let it be sustainable. On the other hand both the designs having toilets which is necessity to everyone in college, whereas, the huge difference is that the staff dinning area has replaced with take away food and coffee bar. They also added a salad bar near the table and chair has been present, in addition, they added some outdoor seating with barbecue.
The new design of cafe has replaced serving area where (all the drinks and food) was present nowadays containing hot meals.
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 covers the main features of the cafe redesign, such as the addition of the salad bar, the outdoor seating, and the conversion of the staff dining area. However, the report lacks a clear, analytical overview of the most significant changes. The description of the layout is somewhat disjointed, and the comparison between the 'before' and 'after' states is occasionally confusing, particularly regarding the serving area. To improve, ensure you provide a more structured summary that highlights the most prominent changes rather than listing features in a fragmented way.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which is a positive step. However, the flow of ideas is often hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical use of cohesive devices. For example, the transition 'On the other hand both the designs having toilets' is grammatically incorrect and does not logically connect the ideas. Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the spatial description of the cafe. Using a wider range of linking words more naturally would help improve the logical progression of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision and variety required for a higher band. There are several instances of awkward word choices or non-standard collocations, such as 'huge modification made by the architecture' (should be 'architectural changes') and 'making eco system safe'. The range is limited, and the repetition of basic terms like 'design' and 'cafe' suggests a need for more varied synonyms and topic-specific vocabulary related to floor plans and facility layouts.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. There are issues with subject-verb agreement ('the design has been change', 'both the designs having'), article usage, and sentence structure. Many sentences are clunky or incomplete, such as 'The new design of cafe has replaced serving area where (all the drinks and food) was present nowadays containing hot meals.' To improve, focus on mastering basic sentence construction and proofreading for common errors like verb tense consistency and pluralisation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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