Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-23

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 blueprint below illustrates the new changes that have been made to the college cafe. It shows how the cafe used to look before it was redesigned and how it looks today.

Overall, the cafe used to be much smaller in size, with only a small portion for the kitchen and serving area, and another portion comprised of students' seating area along with staff dining rooms. toilets, and a bin. However, the cafe today looks much more spacious with the new refinements done.

At first, the cafe used to have a single kitchen along with a small serving area in that kitchen, it had two staff dining rooms, each separated by a wall, a single trash can, toilets, and the rest of the area was occupied by the indoor seating space.

Nowadays, the cafe has evolved in many ways, the serving area in the kitchen has been replaced by hot meals only, one of the staff dining rooms has been replaced with a takeaway food area, and the other with a coffee bar, the bins have been increased in number, and the indoor seating area now has a salad bar just by the kitchen. The cafe also has an outdoor seating area along with a barbecue space.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses the task by comparing the two plans of the college cafe before and after its redesign. You provide a clear overview in the second paragraph noting the expansion and general layout changes, and you report key features such as the transformation of the staff dining rooms into a takeaway food area and a coffee bar, as well as the addition of the salad bar, outdoor seating, and barbecue area. However, there are some minor inaccuracies; for instance, the kitchen itself did not change in size as implied, and you mention 'a single trash can' before when the plan simply showed a 'Bin'. Despite this, all main features are covered well, earning a solid score for task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is generally coherent and follows a logical overall arrangement, moving from a general introduction and overview to specific details of the past layout and finally the current layout. Paragraphing is used to separate distinct ideas, though some sentences run together with comma splices, such as '...a coffee bar, the bins have been increased in number, and the indoor seating area now has a salad bar...' Cohesive devices are used, but referencing could be smoother and paragraphing could be more finely tuned to separate the past and present comparisons more cleanly. Overall progression is clear enough to follow without difficulty.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing changes, using terms such as 'redesigned', 'spacious', 'evolved', and 'refinements'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but some word choices are slightly unnatural or repetitive, such as using 'used to have' and 'used to be' multiple times. Spelling and word formation are generally accurate, and vocabulary errors do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, incorporate a wider variety of precise synonyms and more sophisticated phrasing for spatial changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. You attempt complex structures with relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses, such as 'While the blueprint below illustrates...' (though you wrote 'The blueprint below illustrates...'). There are noticeable punctuation errors, notably comma splices linking independent clauses, for example: '...today has evolved in many ways, the serving area in the kitchen has been replaced...' Simple sentences are generally accurate, but control over complex structures slips at times. Errors do not impede communication, placing this securely in the Band 6 range.

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.