Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-10
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)
There are two designs for college cafe which are given. Some improvements and innovations are made to cafe in the following picture.
Kitchen was located on the north western side which remain unchanged in the future. Whereas, the serving area for all food and drinks will change into hot meals. In new plan, there is a salad bar on the western side which was not there before. The barbecue is launched in new design of cafe which was earlier missing. The innovation of outdoor seating area is quite spacious for outdoor people which is quite highlight.
The location for restrooms on the south eastern side remain same in both plans. The bin in old plan was there. However, new addition to recycle bin have made to the new plan. In new Innovation plan, there are two distinct spots available for coffee bar and takeout food which was used to be staff dining rooms earlier. The location for table and chairs remain same in both the plans.
Overall, the new plan for cafe has distinct options available for food as well as for seating.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| 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 addition of the salad bar, barbecue, and the conversion of the staff dining area. However, the report lacks a clear overview of the most significant changes, which is a requirement for a high band score. Some details are slightly inaccurate or confusing, such as describing the kitchen as 'north western' when it is centrally located, and the description of the seating area is somewhat vague. To improve, ensure you provide a clear summary of the overall transformation in the introduction or conclusion and focus on precise spatial descriptions.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the transition 'However, new addition to recycle bin have made to the new plan' is grammatically awkward and disrupts the flow. The progression of ideas is generally logical, moving from the kitchen/serving area to the restrooms and seating, but the links between sentences could be more sophisticated to improve the overall cohesion of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision and variety expected at higher levels. There are several instances of unnatural phrasing, such as 'outdoor people' and 'innovation of outdoor seating area'. Additionally, the word choice is repetitive, with 'new plan' and 'new design' appearing frequently. To achieve a higher band, try to use more varied synonyms for 'change' (e.g., 'transformed', 'converted', 'reconfigured') and avoid word-for-word translations that result in unnatural collocations.
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 impede clarity. Examples include 'There are two designs for college cafe which are given' (missing articles), 'innovation of outdoor seating area is quite spacious' (awkward phrasing), and 'new addition to recycle bin have made' (subject-verb agreement error). While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles would significantly improve the accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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