Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-17
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 presents the layout of college cafe before the development and how it looks after redesigned.
Overall, it can be clearly seen that many new facilities are added in the cafe especially arrangements for outside seating.
At the first glance, the previous college cafe had a kitchen along with serving area for food and drink in the north-west direction. There was a bin for waste in the east and toilets in the south-east of cafe. moreover, the whole cafe was filled with table and chairs for the people students and staff dinning rooms in north direction.
Turning to the today's cafe of college, there is a salad bar in the west and a barbecue for enjoyment in the same side but outside the cafe. In addition, the outside seating arrangements for students, and staff dinning rooms are replaced with take away food and a coffee bar. The toilets, kitchen, and recycling bin are remained same in their position. A hot meals is built is near the kitchen in the north-west direction.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by comparing the layout of the college cafe before its redesign and its current state. The key changes are reported, including the addition of an outdoor seating area, a barbecue, a salad bar, and the replacement of staff dining rooms with a coffee bar and a take away food counter. An appropriate overview is provided in the second paragraph. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting; for instance, the student states that staff dining rooms are replaced with take away food, but they were actually replaced by both take away food and a coffee bar, and the staff dining rooms are also incorrectly mentioned as being in the north direction in the third paragraph when they were replaced. Overall, the main features are captured adequately, placing it well within the Band 6 or 7 range.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into four distinct paragraphs, following a logical progression from an introduction and overview to specific details of the past layout and then the present layout. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'At the first glance', and 'Turning to the today's cafe'. However, some cohesive phrasing is awkward or non-standard, such as 'At the first glance' instead of 'At first glance' or 'Looking at the plans'. Paragraphing is handled reasonably well, but the overall mechanical control of cohesion occasionally feels a bit formulaic. Referencing is mostly clear, though some sentence connections lack seamless flow. This performance aligns with the Band 6 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using functional terms related to maps and buildings such as 'layout', 'facilities', 'salad bar', 'barbecue', and 'recycling bin'. However, there are several lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'how it looks after redesigned' instead of 'after being redesigned', 'today's cafe of college' instead of 'the college cafe today', and 'a hot meals is built is near' containing repeated verbs and a singular article with a plural noun. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, these persistent errors prevent the score from reaching Band 7.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('layout of college cafe'), incorrect preposition use ('in the east', 'in the same side'), incorrect verb forms ('after redesigned', 'are remained same'), and a redundant verb structure ('A hot meals is built is near'). Punctuation errors also occur, such as a lowercase 'moreover' following a period. Although these errors do not severely impede communication, they represent a recurring pattern of inaccuracy that fits the Band 6 descriptor rather than Band 7.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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