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 plans illustrates the college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. Overall, the old version college cafe have a kitchen and serving area in the left side of cafe, staf dining rooms situated in the middel of north that was having tables and chairs in their adjacent and bin was located in the west of cafe.The toilets were constructed in the corner of the west.
Todays cafe have a kitchen on the same palce that was before the cafe and the serving area converted into hot meals that is constructe in the north of the west. In addition the staff dining room convert into two segments that names are take away food and coffe bar.The tables and chairs,recycling bin,and toilets remain on the same place as previous. Furthermore the present cafe have a salad bar in the wese of cafe and have a barbecue spot on the same direction but outdoor cafe, where the outdoor seating plane is organize for first time in front of cafe to enjoy baebecue.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign, including comparisons such as the changes to the staff dining rooms and the addition of the outdoor seating and barbecue. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting specific locations, such as stating the toilets were constructed in the 'corner of the west' instead of the southeast/bottom-right. Overall, the overview is present, but more precise spatial referencing would elevate the score further.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into an introduction/overview paragraph and a body paragraph describing the current layout. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped since everything following the first two sentences is lumped into one large, dense paragraph. Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes mechanically or awkwardly (e.g., 'In addition the staff dining room convert', 'Furthermore the present cafe have'), and referencing is occasionally unclear.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common collocations related to maps and changes ('redesigned', 'segments', 'recycling bin', 'outdoor seating'). However, there are frequent word-form and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'illustrates' instead of 'illustrate', 'staf' instead of 'staff', 'middel' instead of 'middle', 'coffe' instead of 'coffee', 'wese' instead of 'west', and 'baebecue' instead of 'barbecue'. These errors show limited control over spelling and word choices.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and verb tense is inconsistent. Errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('The plans illustrates', 'the old version college cafe have'), incorrect tense usage ('that was having', 'that is constructe', 'the staff dining room convert'), and missing articles. These errors occur frequently and occasionally impede smooth reading, placing the response firmly in the Band 5 category for grammar.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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