Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22
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 given top view plan of cafe shows the modification have been done in college cafe and how it looks now.
Overall, changes had done in seating arrangements such as in kitchen area, in staff dining room as well as in bins. However, two numbers of new door installed behind the toilets to access outside area.
In the Kitchen food and drink serving area replaced with hot meal counter. While staff dining room splits into two parts one as take away food counter and second is converted into the coffee bar. The bin in front of toilets replaced with recycling bins. However, tables and chairs arrangements inside the cafe area remained same as before.
Moreover, new facilities such as Salad bar and Barbecue were also arranged in cafe. To expand the seating area, outdoor seating amenities arranged after that, approximately 26 number of students can seat outside the cafe. Two doors newly installed to access the outside seating area and Barbecue counter.
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 reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after the redesign, highlighting key alterations such as the conversion of the staff dining room into a takeaway food counter and coffee bar, the addition of the salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in detail interpretation, such as claiming the seating arrangement inside the cafe remained completely the same and estimating the outdoor seating capacity as 26, which is not supported by the visual data. The overview is somewhat weak, but the response successfully contrasts the past and present layouts, meeting the basic requirements for a Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear division into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs detailing specific spatial changes. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate indoor and outdoor modifications. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'Overall', 'In the Kitchen', 'While', and 'Moreover', but some transitions are a bit mechanical or awkward, as seen in 'However, two numbers of new door installed' and 'after that, approximately 26 number of students'. Referencing is generally clear, though progression between sentences occasionally feels disjointed due to grammatical awkwardness.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a map and structural changes, such as 'modification', 'counter', 'facilities', and 'amenities'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'top view plan' instead of 'floor plan', 'two numbers of new door' instead of 'two new doors', and 'students can seat' instead of 'students can sit'. Less common lexical items are attempted but lack precision and natural control, placing this performance firmly at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors in passive voice construction and verb forms, such as 'changes had done' instead of 'changes have been made', 'door installed' instead of 'doors were installed', and 'tables and chairs arrangements... remained same'. Punctuation is basic, and syntactic inaccuracies occasionally cause minor strain for the reader, though overall communication is not severely impeded. This warrants a Band 5.5.
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.