Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20

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 layout represents a college cafe how it looked before renovation and after reconstruction.

At a glance, the kitchen and toilets were at the same place, but the serving area, which was used for all food and drink was replaced with hot meals room, and staff dining rooms were separated and converted into take away food corner and coffee bar.

A new salad bar had made in west side of the cafe and recycling bins were made bigger than old one. However,the tables and chairs were at the same place as it were before redesigning.

There was a major change in south side, an outdoor seating area had made by opening a door. Besides that, a barbecue point had made in the west corner of the college canteen.

There were made two doors, one for entrance to the outdoor area and other one was opened near toilets for people's convenience.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all key aspects of the task, successfully comparing the college cafe before and after the redesign. You clearly note the transformation of the kitchen, serving area, and staff dining rooms, as well as the addition of the salad bar, outdoor seating area, and barbecue point. The overview at the beginning is concise and sets the tone well. However, some descriptions lack full development, and there is minor confusion regarding the doors and layout changes. Nevertheless, the main features are appropriately reported and compared, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

Your essay has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical sequence, moving from structural interior changes to new additions like the outdoor seating and barbecue. Paragraphing is utilised to separate distinct areas of the cafe. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical or awkward, as seen in sentences like 'A new salad bar had made in west side' and 'There were made two doors'. Cohesive devices are minimal, and transitions between sentences could be smoother. This places the response solidly in the Band 6.0 range for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms related to spatial layouts and renovations such as 'redesigned', 'reconstruction', 'converted', and 'convenience'. However, there are noticeable lexical and word-choice errors, particularly with passive voice forms such as 'had made' instead of 'was added' or 'was constructed'. Less common items are attempted, but inaccuracies in collocation and word formation prevent the lexical score from reaching a higher band. Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to communicate your ideas clearly without causing major confusion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with passive constructions ('had made', 'were made') and prepositions ('in west side', 'on south side'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but comma splices and missing articles occasionally occur, such as in 'However,the tables and chairs'. While these errors do not severely impede communication, they demonstrate limited grammatical accuracy when attempting more complex structures, aligning with a Band 5.5 score.

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

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