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 diagram provides information about the current, and previous design of a college cafe.

In the old college cafe, there was two staff dinning rooms situated in front entrance of cafe, and on the right side of exit door, an bin was placed for trash, beside the bin there are cafe toilets for students, and for staff, rest of all area is occupied with tables and chairs for students,however the kitchen was on the north west side of the cafe.

Furthermore, In the redsigned map of cafe, the major change was outdoor seating, and barbecue area, they makes another entrance from the west side of toilets, however the place for recycling bins, tables and chairs, and toilets remains same, whereas, they replace the both staff dinning rooms with a take aways food area, and cofee bar, in addition with that, they also construct an salad bar near exit door.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the before and after plans, noting the kitchen, staff dining rooms converted to a coffee bar and takeaway area, and the addition of outdoor seating and a barbecue. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing 149 words, which results in a penalty under Task Achievement. Additionally, some spatial relationships are described vaguely, such as locating the staff dining rooms at the 'front entrance', whereas the diagram shows them along the top wall. A more precise summary of the overall transformation would elevate this score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into three paragraphs: an introduction and two body paragraphs covering the past and present layouts respectively. Cohesive devices such as 'In the old college cafe', 'Furthermore', and 'whereas' are used to structure the text, though some transitions feel a bit mechanical or awkward, such as 'in addition with that'. Paragraphing is logical, moving clearly from the previous layout to the redesigned one. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, which disrupts the smooth progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for describing spatial changes, incorporating terms like 'redesigned', 'situated', 'occupying', and 'recycling bins'. There are some lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'take aways food area' and 'construct an salad bar'. Word formation errors are also present, including 'dinning' instead of 'dining' and 'redsigned'. The range is sufficient to communicate the main changes, but lacks precision and control over less common vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases ('In the old college cafe, there was...'). There are several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'there was two staff dinning rooms' and article misuse ('an bin', 'an salad bar'). Punctuation is also faulty in places, with comma splices connecting independent clauses. These errors occasionally cause minor strain for the reader.

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

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