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 Map illustrates college café before it was redesigned and how it look Current appearance. Overall , the café have significant modification with most of the places and improve the dining area with tables and chairs.

In the pervious design , there was a kitchen in north west side with serving area which serve all food and drink , now is change into hot meals area , bin is upgrade into recycle bin in east side. Staff dinning rooms are replace by take away food and Coffee bar according to new Designs. Salad bar was not on pervious designs.

Now on outdoor , barbecue place and out door seating area in the south side of map , newly construct for the people to enjoy the food and socializing in Fresh air. In the main hall tables and chairs section remain the same in both design , however, toilets is also same place beside the bin

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response attempts to summarize the two plans showing the college cafe before and after its redesign. Key features are identified, such as the transformation of the kitchen into a hot meals area, the addition of a salad bar, and the outdoor seating and barbecue facilities. Comparisons are made between the two layouts, noting what remained the same, like the main hall tables and chairs and the toilets. However, some descriptions are brief and lack full development of specific details or precise spatial relationships. The overview is somewhat basic, but it successfully captures the main trends and changes between the two floor plans.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The text is divided into three paragraphs, providing an introduction, a body paragraph detailing internal changes, and a concluding body paragraph covering outdoor additions and unchanged areas. Logical organization is visible, moving systematically from inside to outside. However, cohesion is frequently faulty or mechanical, with issues in referencing and transitional phrases. For instance, phrases like 'now is change into' and 'Now on outdoor' lack smooth integration. Paragraphing is attempted, but the overall flow is hindered by abrupt transitions and a lack of varied cohesive devices.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The lexical resource is limited and adequate for a basic summary, though it contains noticeable errors in word choice and morphology. Examples include 'pervious design' instead of 'previous design', 'dinning rooms' instead of 'dining rooms', and 'newly construct' instead of 'newly constructed'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy, such as 'significant modification' and 'recycle bin'. While communication is not severely impeded, the frequent lexical errors restrict the score to this level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is weak. There are frequent errors in tense, subject-verb agreement, and word formation, such as 'the café have significant modification', 'is change into', and 'toilets is also same place'. Punctuation is also problematic, notably with irregular spacing around commas and periods ('Overall , the café...'). Complex structures are often faulty, and errors cause occasional difficulty for the reader, placing the response firmly at a Band 5.0 level.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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