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 plan illutrates a cafe structure before and after it was redesigned.

Overall, some new sections were added and some were removed after resdeign. Staff dining rooms are removed while new introduction of Salad bar, Coffee bar, Take away food and outdoor seating with barbecue is done. and after redsign recycling bins are there instead of common bins.

Cafe before redesign was simple as the structure consists Kitchen with Serving area mainly for all food and drink then after that Staff dining rooms were there.Tables and chairs were placed for customers with bin and Toilets facility was also there.

After redesign, Serving area was replaced with Hot meals and Staff dining rooms are replaced with Take away food and Coffee bar. Furthermore, Recycling bins were placed for good waste management and Outdoor seating with Barbecue and Salad bar was newely intoduced to enjoy food and drink. Otherwise Toilets and kitchen were as it is.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the main changes and detailing specific features of the college cafe before and after the redesign. Key alterations—such as the removal of staff dining rooms, the introduction of the salad bar, coffee bar, takeaway food, and outdoor seating with a barbecue—are correctly identified and reported. The comparison between the two layouts is clear, and the overall summary captures the essence of the transformations accurately, meeting the requirements of the task satisfactorily.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged logically with an introduction, an overall summary, a description of the past layout, and a description of the current layout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate these distinct aspects of the report. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or basic (e.g., 'then after that', 'otherwise'), and there are occasional abrupt transitions between sentences. Nevertheless, the progression of information is generally clear and easy to follow throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map or plan, including terms like 'redesign', 'structure', 'recycling bins', and 'outdoor seating'. However, there are several lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'illutrates' (spelling), 'resdeign', 'new introduction of Salad bar', and 'good waste management' instead of 'general waste management'. While less common vocabulary is attempted, these inaccuracies slightly detract from the precision of the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles (e.g., 'consists Kitchen', 'with bin'), incorrect tense usage and passive forms (e.g., 'newely intoduced'), and punctuation slips such as a lowercase start to a sentence fragment ('and after redsign'). These errors occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching a higher band, though they do not impede overall communication.

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

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