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)
This map illustrates the two designs of a university cafe one before it wa redesgined and other of current day.
Overall, it is seen from the layout that the the cafe before only consisted of few things such as kitchen, serving area, staff dining rooms, tables and chairs and toilets that in current situation is evolved by addition of salad bar, barbecue sections and outdoor seating areas and some things are kept unchanged.
To commence with, the layout before the redesgin shows the kitchen on the north-west along with the serving areas for all drink and food, following the whole area at the centre for tables and chairs with a private rooms for staff dining, from the entrance towards to left will be the washrooms and bin for waste discard.
The cafe today presents new development such as outdoor seating on the south of cafetaria with a barbecue corner on the west, inside a new saladbar is opened on the west of the centre. The staff dining rooms are replaced into take away food and coffee bar center. along with this the positions of kitchen, tables and chairs and toilets is not differed.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The candidate successfully covers all parts of the task by summarizing the main features of the college cafe before and after the redesign and making relevant comparisons. The response outlines key changes, such as the introduction of a salad bar, a barbecue corner, outdoor seating, and a take-away food and coffee bar center, while noting features that remained unchanged like the kitchen, toilets, and main seating area. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, capturing the overall transformation of the space. While some descriptions of locations could be slightly more concise, the response fully addresses the requirements of Academic Task 1, earning a band score of 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement and is divided into appropriate paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by distinct body paragraphs for the 'before' and 'after' layouts. Cohesive devices are used to structure the text, such as 'Overall', 'To commence with', and 'The cafe today'. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty, as seen in overly long, run-on sentences (e.g., the second paragraph containing a very long clause linked by 'that in current situation is evolved'). Referencing is occasionally unclear, and punctuation errors affect the flow. Therefore, a band score of 5.5 is awarded.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to maps and spatial layouts such as 'layout', 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'salad bar', and 'outdoor seating'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including 'redesgined' instead of redesigned, 'cafetaria', and awkward phrasings like 'evolved by addition of' and 'the positions of kitchen... is not differed'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited accuracy. This performance aligns with the band 5.5 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. Many sentences are overly long and grammatically tangled, such as the single-sentence second paragraph which lacks proper clause separation. There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('the positions of kitchen... is not differed') and prepositional inaccuracies ('on the north-west', 'towards to left'). While communication is generally maintained, these frequent errors place the response firmly in the band 5.0 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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