Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19
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 maps below illustrate the changes that have been made to a cafe, comparing its layout before the redesigning with how it looks today.
Overall, the cafe has undergone to prominent changes and significant facilities for the visitors were added. The addition of salad bar, outdoor seating and cofee bar are prominent changes. In contrast, kitchen and toilets remained in a same general look.
Before redesigning, the Kitchen was at the top left corner of the cafe with samll serving area at just below the kitchen. The main dinning area was all occupied with chairs and tables and 2 rooms were constructed for the staff's dining just above the upper middle section. The bin and toilets were located at the right side of the cafe.
Nowadys, cafe underwent to lot of changes, such as kitchen at same place but the serving area is converted to Hot meals. The large portion covering table and chairs is same with addition of salad bar at right side and staff dinning rooms are converted to coffee bar and for take away food. An outdoor seating is added for the visitors with the barbecue portion on the right side. Toilets and recycle bin are at same place.
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 response covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview and describing the main changes between the two plans. The student notes key transformations, such as the replacement of the staff dining rooms with a coffee bar and take-away food section, the addition of a salad bar, outdoor seating, and a barbecue area. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in detail, such as placing the salad bar on the 'right side' in the body paragraph when it is actually on the western (left) wall. Despite this slip, the core features and comparisons are successfully reported, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into four paragraphs, including a clear introduction and an overall summary. Logical progression is generally maintained as the student moves from general trends to specific details of the 'before' and 'after' layouts. However, paragraphing and referencing can be somewhat mechanical. For instance, transitional phrases like 'Before redesigning' and 'Nowadys' are used, but cohesion within sentences occasionally falters due to repetitive sentence structures and clunky transitions. Overall arrangement is coherent, earning a solid Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common collocations such as 'redesigned', 'significant facilities', and 'outdoor seating'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'undergone to prominent changes', 'samll serving area', and 'recycle bin'. Spelling errors like 'cofee' and 'Nowadys' also detract from the lexical score. While communication is not impeded, the frequent slip-ups keep the score at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The maps below illustrate the changes that have been made to a cafe...'. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors, including incorrect prepositions ('remained in a same general look', 'undergone to lot of changes'), missing articles ('with samll serving area', 'with addition of salad bar'), and subject-verb agreement issues. These errors require some effort from the reader to parse, placing the response firmly in the Band 5.5 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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