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 plans illustrates a college before it was redesigned and how it looks now. The two structures are present giving us an information about infrastructure of a college cafe.

There were some modifications in the model. For instance, placement of kitchen, tables and chairs in addition to it toilets were at the same location whereas newly areas including hot meals, salad bar recycling bin moreover barbecue area with outdoor seating were developed. However, staff dining room are replaced by take-away food and coffee bar.

If we talk about the diagram before the construction of a cafe, in the north-western corner a kitchen was located with a serving area where foods and drinks were available. In the middle, staff dining rooms were present in the downward direction to it tables and chairs were placed where people sat and relaxed additionally next to it, a bin was positioned below it toilets were situated.

The infrastructure of the cafe today consisted of hot meals area at the placement of serving area also beneath to it salad bar has been established as well as lower to it barbecue area has been constructed along with outdoor seating to accomodate customers. On the other hand, take-away food accompanied by coffee bar has been built. Bin has been upgraded to a recycling bin.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to address the task by describing the main changes shown in the two plans of the college cafe. Key features such as the kitchen remaining in the same place, the replacement of staff dining rooms with a take-away food area and coffee bar, and the addition of a salad bar, outdoor seating, and a barbecue are mentioned. However, the overview is weak, and the response lacks a well-developed summary of the overall spatial transformation. Furthermore, there are some minor inaccuracies in describing locations (for instance, stating that the toilets were newly developed or incorrectly placing features). Overall, the task is addressed, but the development of ideas and selection of features remain somewhat limited, placing it in Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged into four paragraphs, providing a logical progression from an introductory statement to an overview and then detailed descriptions of the 'before' and 'after' plans. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'For instance', 'whereas', and 'On the other hand', but some transitions feel awkward, mechanical, or unnatural (e.g., 'in addition to it toilets were at the same location whereas newly areas including...', 'beneath to it', 'lower to it'). Paragraphing is used, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs occasionally suffers from run-on structures and unclear referencing. It satisfies the requirements for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map or plan, including terms like 'modifications', 'infrastructure', 'placement', 'constructed', and 'upgraded'. However, there are notable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'newly areas', 'lower to it' instead of 'to the south of it', and 'accomodate' (which also contains a spelling error). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and word choices occasionally lack precision. This aligns well with the descriptors for Band 5.5.

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. There are several noticeable grammatical errors and awkward syntactic structures throughout the response, such as 'The plans illustrates a college before...' (subject-verb agreement), 'giving us an information' (uncountable noun article error), 'staff dining room are replaced' (pluralisation error), and 'bin has been upgraded to a recycling bin' missing an article. Complex sentences often contain faulty phrasing. These errors occasionally cause minor confusion for the reader, fitting the Band 5.0 descriptors.

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

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