Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-18

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 maps depict the changes that in a college cafe,as it was redesigned and whar changes took place during that time.

At a glance , it is abundantly clear that the north-west area remained almost similar by just replacing the serving area into hot meals. The staff dinning rooms can be seen in the middle are now converted into take way food and coffee bar respectively. On the south-west side ,now there are multiple recycling bins where only a single bin can be seen before ,however the toilets remains the same.

Probing further, it can be seen that outdoor seatings are now being arranged,along with the barbecue area,where there were empty space before. The middle area , where tables and chairs were placed remains unchanged.On the left side , now a new salad bar have been opened.

Hence , it is lucid that the area looks more organised and well developed after the addition of outdoor seatings, Barbecue, Salad bar and Coffee bar. These changes provides a new look to the cafe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all main features of the before and after plans of the college cafe. The student identifies key transformations, such as the replacement of staff dining rooms with a take-away food counter and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, and the introduction of outdoor seating and a barbecue area. An overview is present, stating that the area looks more organized and developed. However, there are some minor spatial inaccuracies in the body paragraphs; for example, the recycling bins are located on the eastern wall rather than the south-west side as claimed, and the staff dining rooms were along the north wall rather than 'in the middle'. Despite these minor geographical misreadings, all major parts of the prompt are addressed, supporting a solid Band 6.5 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs: an introduction, two body paragraphs detailing specific spatial changes, and a concluding overview. Cohesive devices such as 'At a glance', 'Probing further', and 'Hence' are utilized to guide the reader through the comparison, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sections of the cafe. Referencing is mostly clear, although occasional ambiguities in directional markers (e.g., placing eastern features on the south-west side) slightly disrupt the logical flow of spatial relationships. Overall, the essay presents a coherent arrangement with adequate organizational structure, earning a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a Task 1 response, successfully employing descriptive terms such as 'redesigned', 'converted', 'unchanged', and 'organised'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation issues, such as writing 'take way food' instead of 'take-away food', 'outdoor seatings' (seating is generally uncountable in this context), and spelling errors like 'dinning' instead of 'dining' and 'whar' instead of 'what'. Less common lexical items are attempted ('abundantly clear', 'lucid'), but minor inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching higher bands. The vocabulary is minimally sufficient to convey the message clearly, placing it securely at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response incorporates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and conditional-like time clauses (e.g., 'as it was redesigned and what changes took place'). There are several grammatical errors and punctuation flaws throughout the text, such as missing articles ('the changes that in a college cafe'), incorrect comma spacing, and verb tense slips ('the toilets remains', 'a new salad bar have been opened'). Despite these errors, they do not severely impede communication, and the meaning remains understandable. The command of grammar corresponds to a Band 6.0 level.

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

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