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 diagram illustrates the modifications being made to a college café nowadays and its infrastructure before redesign.
Overall, the university café has undergone several considerable redevelopments, with several original facilities being removed or relocated. The most notable changes are the introduction of area for outdoor seating, salad bar, section for take away food, coffee bars and a barbecue section, while tables and chair remained same in the central position. While serving area has been replaced by section specified for hot meals.
Before redesign, café contained the kitchen with serving area offering all food and drinks, a big hall room containing tables and chairs also had three sections, one area is designated to bin and two joining rooms both were designed for staff dining rooms, third section was for toilet.
After redevelopment serving area is upgraded by hot meals, while staff dinning rooms are replaced by two separate rooms, one is for take away food and the other is coffee bar both have doors
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student covers all parts of the task well, selecting the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two plans. The overview identifies the general changes, such as facility removals, relocations, and new additions like the outdoor seating, salad bar, and barbecue area. Specific details are reported accurately, such as the tables and chairs remaining in the central position and the former staff dining rooms being replaced by a takeaway section and a coffee bar. However, the development of some ideas is slightly repetitive in the final paragraphs, and the phrasing occasionally lacks precision. Overall, the response addresses the prompt effectively, earning a solid Band 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs detailing the specific transformations. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'The most notable changes', and 'While', which help guide the reader through the comparison. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, and the final sentence trails off abruptly without full punctuation. Referencing between the before and after states is generally clear, but the logical progression could be smoother. These issues place the response firmly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms related to architectural changes and campus facilities, such as 'infrastructure', 'redevelopments', 'relocated', and 'recycling bins'. There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'hall room', 'section specified for hot meals', and 'staff dinning rooms' (spelling error). While less common vocabulary is attempted, minor inaccuracies in word choice prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The lexical resource is sufficient for Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while' and 'as'. However, there are noticeable grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout, such as 'modifications being made... nowadays and its infrastructure before redesign' (tense inconsistency), 'tables and chair remained same', and the fragment sentence at the very end ('both have doors'). Punctuation is also neglected in places. Because errors occasionally cause slight confusion but do not impede overall communication, this meets the criteria for Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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