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)
There are two plans of a college cafeteria, one shows the present design and the other one is from the past condition.
The cafeteria looks almost the same in size like it was used to be before. The indoor facilities are unchanged, the kitchen area, the bin, table and chairs along with the toilets are irreplacable.
However, only hot meals are served now at the serving area. The staff dining rooms have been replaced by take away station and coffee bar, providing more options to the students. Considering the changes, it seems like the students prefer good food that is why salad bar is placed right in front of the tables and chairs, while seating area is built outside facing the barbecue section. Two more gates are installed to connect the outdoor seating making sure students enjoy their meals properly. Also, to provide hygiene and environmental friendly space, bins are replaced with recycling bins.
All over the cafe have the same vibe with some addition to the menu like the salad, barbecue, coffee and providing indoor and outdoor dining services with take away options.
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 the task by identifying the main changes between the two plans, such as the redesign of the serving area, the replacement of staff dining rooms with a takeaway station and coffee bar, and the addition of a salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating. An overview is attempted, and comparisons are made. However, there are some minor inaccuracies or unsupported speculations, such as the statement 'it seems like the students prefer good food that is why salad bar is placed right in front of the tables and chairs,' which drifts into subjective commentary rather than objective reporting. Overall, all main parts of the visual data are covered adequately, placing it securely at Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organized into four paragraphs, providing a clear overall structure with an introduction, body paragraphs detailing specific spatial changes, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'However,' 'Considering the changes,' and 'Also,' though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or awkward (e.g., 'All over the cafe have the same vibe'). Paragraphing is functional, and referencing is mostly clear, though the progression of ideas occasionally jumps abruptly between indoor and outdoor features. This level of organization and logical sequencing aligns well with the descriptors for Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating terms like 'cafeteria,' 'indoor facilities,' 'take away station,' 'recycling bins,' and 'outdoor seating.' There are some awkward collocations and lexical errors, such as 'past condition' instead of 'previous layout,' 'irreplacable' (misspelled and used inaccurately to mean unchanged), and 'environmental friendly' instead of 'environmentally friendly.' While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main points, these inaccuracies prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'There are two plans of a college cafeteria, one shows the present design...' which contains a comma splice. Other grammatical errors occur, including 'one shows the present design and the other one is from the past condition' (parallelism issues) and 'All over the cafe have the same vibe' (subject-verb agreement error with a singular noun phrase taking a plural verb). However, these errors do not impede overall communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions easily. This demonstrates a standard typical of Band 5.5 or 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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