Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16
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 given landscape of college cafe provides the visioneery how the cafe was looking before and how the college cafeteria has redesigned, at a glance, there are so many facilities are introduced after redesigned the cafe such as, take away food and coffe bar.
To begin with, before redesign, cafe has only two entry or exit options, which has changed in new design and according to that now it has 4 entry and exit passes. However, some basic facilities are remain the same in a new design such as a, main seating arrangement, with tables and chair, and toilets, on the other hand, facilities like outdoor seating barbecue, and saladbar are added. in the kitchen, serving area is converted into hot meals section. Moreover, staff dining rooms has completely eliminted and transformed into coffe bar, and take away food. furthermore, there was single bin in early design, and in a redesigned landscape, bin size has increased.
To sum up, there are so many facilities has been introduced in a new landscape design of college cafeteria, along with two different seating options, therefore people can enjoy their favorite meal comfortably.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main changes shown in the diagrams, identifying key additions such as the salad bar, outdoor seating, barbecue, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a coffee bar and takeaway food area. An overview is attempted in the introduction and conclusion, capturing the general transformation of the space. However, some details are slightly imprecise, such as the claim that there are now four entry and exit passes when the plan shows doors added to the southern wall for outdoor access, and the minor reference to the bin size. Overall, all parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, placing it firmly in the Band 6 territory.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into an introduction, a body paragraph detailing the specific changes, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas (e.g., 'To begin with', 'However', 'on the other hand', 'Furthermore'), although some transitions feel a bit mechanical or repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the detailed body points, ensuring the progression of information remains generally clear to the reader.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a spatial transformation, incorporating terms like 'redesigned', 'cafeteria', 'facilities', and 'eliminated'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'visioneery' instead of 'vision' or 'idea', 'coffe bar' (spelling), 'saladbar' (spacing), and 'eliminted' (spelling). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success due to frequent word-formation and spelling slips, which restricts the score to a Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in article usage, punctuation, and clause structure, such as 'The given landscape of college cafe provides the visioneery how the cafe was looking before', 'cafe has only two entry or exit options, which has changed', and run-on sentences with comma splices (e.g., 'facilities are introduced after redesigned the cafe such as, take away food and coffe bar'). While meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors places this response at Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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