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 plans show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. The first plan shows how it looked before. The cafe before, had a bin attached just beside the entrance spot and moving forward from that point was the toilets. Then, after coming inside there was a hall where a lots of tables and chairs were placed. With that there were two small rooms called staff dining rooms for the staff working there. Moreover, to the side there was a serving area where all food and drink served right infront of kitchen.

However, in the new plan, the whole seating arrangment is divided into two parts i.e., outdoor seating and indoor seating. The outdoor seating arrangment is outside the main cafe building. It is joined with the inner hall with an opeaning and an exist. Moreover, a barbecue area is also there at outside seating.

In the inside area, there is a same arrangements for bins and toilets, however, a salad bar is added in the hall area. Moreover, the staff dining area is changed to two room, one is coffee bar and other is a take away food area. in addition to this, the serving area is now reserved for hot meals with kitchen behind it.

Overall, cafe today shows a better version students and all the college staff, with each thing organised properly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers all major parts of the visual data by comparing the college cafe before and after its redesign. Key features such as the kitchen, serving area, toilets, seating, and bins are identified, and the introduction of the outdoor seating, barbecue area, salad bar, coffee bar, and take-away section is noted. However, the overview is rather weak, consisting of a single simple concluding sentence rather than a summary of the main trends or general changes. Furthermore, the description contains some minor spatial inaccuracies, such as stating that the serving area was right in front of the kitchen when it was actually adjacent to its southern boundary. Overall, the response addresses the prompt reasonably well, but the lack of a robust overview limits it to a band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged into four paragraphs, following a logical progression from an introduction to the former layout, the new features, and a brief conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as "However", "Moreover", and "in addition to this". However, paragraphing is somewhat erratic; the second and third paragraphs group indoor and outdoor elements slightly haphazardly, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like "the same arrangements for bins and toilets". While the essay maintains a coherent overall arrangement, cohesion is at times mechanical and repetitive in its transition words. This fits the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with appropriate functional terms related to maps and plans, such as "redesigned", "serving area", "outdoor seating", and "salad bar". The student attempts some less common vocabulary like "arrangment" (misspelled) and "reserved", but word choice is generally basic and repetitive (e.g., frequent repetition of "moreover"). There are several spelling and word-formation errors throughout the text, including "opeaning", "exist" (for exit), and "arrangment". These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a solid Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases (e.g., "With that there were two small rooms..."). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors in article usage ("the cafe before, had", "at outside seating"), prepositions ("served right infront of kitchen"), and spelling/word forms. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the writing from achieving a Band 7.0, matching the descriptor for Band 6.0 where a mix of structures is used alongside frequent minor errors.

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

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