Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26
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 plan illustrates the modifications occured in previous cafe.
Overall, the major transformation has taken place in kitchen where serving area is replaced by hot meals and staff dining room is converted into two main spots. Furthermore, space towards north of the cafe is now covered effectively by building salad bar and cafe is modernized by outdoor seating contains barbecue space while other things almost remained same.
Previous cafe had the kitchen towards north having serving area for all kinds of food and drinks while the whole space was empty in front of kitchen.Staff dining room was constructed almost in mid of cafe in front of which tables and chairs were arranged. On the east of cafe there was an entrance and from left to entrance there was a small bin section leading towards toilet just a few steps ahead.
In modified cafe, entrance, toilets and bin remained same just bin is bigger in size than previous one,while serving area is replaced by hot meals and staff dining rooms by take away food and cafe bar. Dramatical addition of outdoor seats and barbecue space can be seen.
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 response covers the main features of both the original and redesigned plans for the college cafe, successfully highlighting key changes such as the replacement of the serving area with hot meals, the conversion of staff dining rooms into a take away food section and a coffee bar, and the addition of a salad bar, outdoor seating, and a barbecue. An overview is present, and key comparisons are made between the two layouts. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in spatial references, such as placing the staff dining rooms in the mid of cafe rather than along the north wall, which prevents the response from reaching the highest bands. Overall, the task is addressed adequately and covers the required features.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged into a logical overall structure, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview paragraph, details of the previous layout, and finally the modifications. Paragraphing is attempted, though the division between paragraphs could be managed more clearly to enhance the progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Furthermore' and 'In modified cafe', but referencing is at times a bit mechanical and repetitive ('of cafe', 'to cafe'). While the flow is generally understandable, the organizational logic occasionally falters in grouping spatial descriptions effectively.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'modification', 'transformation', and 'dramatical addition' (though collocationally awkward). There are several vocabulary and word choice errors, such as 'occured' (spelling), 'cafe bar' instead of 'coffee bar', and 'outdoor seats' instead of 'outdoor seating area'. Although these inaccuracies exist, communication is not impeded, and the range is minimally sufficient to describe the visual data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses ('where serving area is replaced') and participial phrases ('containing barbecue space'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('in kitchen', 'in previous cafe', 'to entrance'), incorrect prepositions ('towards north of the cafe', 'on the east of cafe'), and punctuation/word form errors ('occured', 'Dramatical addition'). These errors require some effort to decode at times, placing the writing firmly in the band 5.5 range for grammar.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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