Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-12
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 maps illustrate compares the changes in the college cafe after being redesigned.
Overall, the college cafeteria has improved with separate serving areas for different types of food and refreshments and intoduction .
The structure has not changed much even after the redesign.
Before redesign, the cafe had only one serving area, which is now divided into four different food and drink areas including hot meals at the place of serving area, salad bar which is in front of hot meals, a coffee bar, and a barbecue. The barbecue is outside the cafe in an open area. Secondly, the staff dining room is demolished and replaced with a takeaway food and coffee bar. Thirdly, an outdoor seating area is introduced with more tables and chairs, right beside the barbecue, while the old indoor seating remains the same. The bins inside the cafe are now replaced with recycling bins.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main changes shown in the college cafe plans, such as the division of the single serving area into four distinct zones, the removal of the staff dining room, and the addition of an outdoor seating area. However, there is a penalty because the length requirement of 150 words was not met, as the response contains only 148 words. Additionally, some descriptions lack precision and development, such as 'hot meals at the place of serving area' and the incomplete sentence fragment 'and intoduction'. While the key overall features are captured, the minor omissions and lack of sufficient word count prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response exhibits some overall organisation, beginning with an introductory overview and grouping details into paragraphs. However, the logical progression is hindered by choppy, overly brief paragraphs and grammatical awkwardness. Cohesive devices are minimal and sometimes inaccurate, such as 'Secondly' appearing without a preceding 'Firstly' (though 'Before redesign' is used initially). Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in the phrasing 'at the place of serving area'. Paragraphing is used, but the extreme brevity of the middle paragraphs disrupts the natural flow and cohesion of the essay.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student uses a sufficient range of vocabulary adequate for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'cafeteria', 'serving area', 'salad bar', 'barbecue', and 'recycling bins'. There are, however, noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'intoduction' (a spelling error) and 'hot meals at the place of serving area'. Less common items are attempted with mixed success, and word choice lacks the precision needed for higher bands. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is not severely impeded.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Before redesign, the cafe had only one serving area, which is now divided...' However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are noticeable errors, including missing articles ('Before redesign', 'staff dining room'), a subject-verb agreement issue in the opening sentence ('maps illustrate compares'), a spelling typo ('intoduction'), and an incomplete fragment. While some error-free sentences exist, these recurring grammatical slips cause occasional difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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