Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-24
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 given architectural plans illustrate the cafe transformation before and after its modifications.
Overall, the kitchen area remains almost identical in position in both plans. The contrasting feature of changes shows that the cafe is now developed in terms of dining, food and seating facilities.
The kitchen has been placed in same location where the serving area facility has been replaced with hot meals in the bottom of kitchen. There are some significant changes have been done in the staff dining rooms. Both have been converted with takeaway and coffee bar facilities.
The toilets remained in same area while bins have been replaced with recycling bins. Furthermore, a salad bar has been allocated at the southwest of the cafe. The most noticeable changes have been seen at exterior of the cafe where seating chairs along with tables kept in a well manner way with a barbeque placed in the west side.The entrance features are now fully developed.
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 most key features of the two plans, including the retention of the kitchen and toilets, the conversion of staff dining rooms into a takeaway and coffee bar, and the addition of the salad bar, recycling bins, outdoor seating, and barbecue area. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, stating that the kitchen remains identical while the cafe has developed in dining and seating facilities. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and omissions in spatial descriptions, such as stating the salad bar is at the southwest when it is along the western wall, and missing some finer details of the layout. Nevertheless, all main changes are reported and compared adequately, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 to 7.0 range. The response is awarded a 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay is organized into four paragraphs, moving from an introduction to general trends and specific spatial comparisons. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'Furthermore', and 'The most noticeable changes'. However, referencing and transitions are occasionally mechanical or slightly awkward, as seen in phrases like 'The contrasting feature of changes shows that...' and 'Both have been converted with takeaway and coffee bar facilities.' Paragraphing is logical, but the internal flow of sentences could be smoother to establish clearer progression throughout. Overall coherence is adequate for a Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'architectural plans', 'transformation', 'relocated', and 'recycling bins'. There are some noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'cafe is now developed in terms of...', 'kitchen has been placed in same location where the serving area facility has been replaced with hot meals in the bottom of kitchen', and 'kept in a well manner way'. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choices occasionally lack precision. This performance aligns with Band 6.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The given architectural plans illustrate...' and 'Furthermore, a salad bar has been allocated at the southwest of the cafe.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing throughout, including missing articles ('in same location', 'at exterior'), incorrect prepositions ('at the southwest', 'in the west side'), and awkward passive constructions ('The toilets remained in same area while bins have been replaced'). A run-on sentence also occurs near the end ('...with a barbeque placed in the west side.The entrance features are now fully developed.'). These errors rarely impede communication, supporting a Band 6 score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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