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 made to a college café 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 an area for outdoor seating, salad bar, section for take away food, coffee bars and a barbecue section, while tables and chairs remain same in the central position. While the serving area has been replaced by a section specified for hot meals.
Before redesign, the café contained a 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 dining rooms are replaced by two separate rooms, one is for takeaway food and the other is coffee bar both have doors opening into the hall room. The bin area has been upgraded to recycle bins section and a salad bar has also been introduced on left side of main hall. One of the main changes is the introduction of for benches for outdoor seating and a barbecue section connected to down left corner of the room.
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 successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by comparing the college cafe before and after the redesign. Key changes such as the outdoor seating, salad bar, hot meals counter, and the conversion of staff rooms into a takeaway and coffee bar are accurately reported. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the main transformations. However, there are some minor inaccuracies or awkward phrasing in describing specific locations, such as stating the barbecue is connected to the 'down left corner' when it is outside to the south-west. Nonetheless, the core information and comparisons are presented effectively, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged into a logical structure, moving from an introductory overview to separate body paragraphs detailing the 'before' and 'after' states of the cafe. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Before redesign', and 'After redevelopment' help guide the reader through the comparison. However, paragraphing could be slightly better managed, and some referencing is a bit mechanical or repetitive. Cohesion is generally clear throughout, maintaining an overall coherent flow despite minor clunkiness in transitions between the detailed features.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a process or plan comparison, incorporating terms such as 'modifications', 'infrastructure', 'redevelopments', and 'relocation'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'infrastructure' and 'designated', though some word choices are awkward or imprecise (e.g., 'hall room', 'recycle bins section', 'for benches'). Spelling is generally accurate, but occasional lexical inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, attempting relative clauses and prepositional phrases (e.g., 'with several original facilities being removed', 'both have doors opening into the hall room'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as missing articles ('with several original facilities', 'for benches for outdoor seating', 'on left side'), tense inconsistencies, and fragments (e.g., 'While the serving area has been replaced...'). These errors do not impede overall communication but occur frequently enough to typify Band 6 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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