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 two layout of the college cafe illustrates the number of renovations have been made.
To begin with, the cafe had a staff dining room on the north side of the toilets Which has been transformed into two different rooms as take away food and coffee bar respectively. Also, in the area with tables and chairs, a salad bar has been built. Moreover, they also expanded the cafe by outdoor seating area along with the barbecue facility. The serving area with all food and drink got replaced by the Hot meals desk.
However, the recycling bin area also remained at a particular position but it got a little enlargement. whereas, the kitchen and toilets remained approximately same position.
Overall, the college cafe earlier did not had much facilities as of now it has after making renovations and adding up new areas such barbecue, salad bar and hot meals which made more attractive cafe.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by summarizing the main changes shown in the two maps of the college café. Key transformations are identified, such as the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a take-away food area and a coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, and the expansion to include outdoor seating and a barbecue facility. An overview is attempted in the concluding paragraph, although it contains some grammatical awkwardness. While the selection of features is generally good, some spatial relationships are described rather simply or slightly inaccurately, such as stating that the kitchen and toilets remained at 'approximately same position' without mentioning internal counter name changes. Nevertheless, the main features and comparisons are successfully reported, satisfying the core requirements of Task 1.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged logically with a clear introduction, body paragraphs detailing specific structural changes, and a concluding overview. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the comparisons, such as 'To begin with', 'Also', 'Moreover', and 'However'. However, paragraphing is somewhat fragmented, with very short paragraphs that limit the flow of ideas. Reference words are occasionally mechanical or slightly unclear, for instance, 'the recycling bin area also remained at a particular position'. Overall progression is discernible, but greater cohesion and smoother transitions between sentences would elevate the organizational quality.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying actions of change such as 'transformed', 'expanded', and 'replaced'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'renovations', 'respectively', and 'facility'. However, noticeable word choice and collocation errors occur, such as 'The two layout of the college cafe illustrates the number of renovations' (plural/singular mismatch and 'the number of' instead of 'several'), 'did not had much facilities', and 'made more attractive cafe'. Spelling is generally accurate, but lexical control is inconsistent, placing the response firmly at band 5.5 to 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses ('Which has been transformed') and comparative phrasing. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement and article errors in 'The two layout... illustrates', tense errors in 'did not had much facilities', and missing articles in 'such barbecue, salad bar and hot meals'. Punctuation is also occasionally faulty, such as starting a sentence with 'Which'. These errors occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader, but communication is not severely impeded.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.