Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13
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 diagrams illustrate the outlay of a college cafe before and after reconstruction.
Before undergoing reconstruction, the cafe consists of a long dining hall with tables and chairs along with two separate staff dining rooms situated in the middle of hall. The kitchen is situated at north-east corner of the cafe and it has a common serving area for every type of dishes and liqours. Toilets are present in south-west corner of the hall and a bin just left to the enterance of hall which is at north-west corner.
After remodification, significant changes has been made in the cafe. Staff dining rooms have been replaced with coffe bar and take away counter. Serving area is now used to serve hot meals and a separate salad bar counter has been made. Outdoor seating is added with Barbeque area. Toilets are at same old place while recycling bins are installed.
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 before and after plans, noting the transformation of the staff dining rooms into a coffee bar and take away counter, the addition of outdoor seating, and the retention of the toilets. However, there are some minor omissions, such as failing to mention the relocation of the kitchen. Furthermore, the length requirement is NOT met as the response contains 148 words, which is 2 words short of the 150-word minimum. This under-length shortfall directly impacts Task Achievement, resulting in a band score of 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division between the initial layout and the redesigned cafe. Paragraphing is used to separate the two time periods, which aids readability. However, cohesive devices are somewhat basic and mechanical, relying heavily on simple time markers like 'Before undergoing reconstruction' and 'After remodification'. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression within the second paragraph is slightly disjointed. Cohesion is managed adequately, fitting the Band 6 descriptor.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts at less common lexical items such as 'outlay' (meant layout), 'reconstruction', 'remodification', and 'recycling bins'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, including 'outlay' instead of layout, 'cafe consists' (tense inconsistency), 'liqours' (liquors), 'enterance' (entrance), and 'coffe bar' (coffee). These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Before undergoing reconstruction, the cafe consists of a long dining hall with tables and chairs along with two separate staff dining rooms situated in the middle of hall.' However, there are frequent grammatical errors regarding tense consistency ('consists' instead of consisted) and missing articles ('in middle of hall', 'at north-east corner'). While these errors rarely completely obscure meaning, they occur with enough frequency to prevent the writing from achieving a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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