Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-27
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 map illustrates the changes that took place in a college cafe in the past and now.
Overall, the college cafe has undergone significant changes of its layout and facilities. Several areas were relocated and replaced, while new facilities, such as hotel meals, a takeaway foods, and coffee bar, were introduced.
In the past, the cafe had kitchen and serving area in the northeast corner, while the toilets were on the southwest corner. In the centre of the cafe, there were tables and chairs, staff dining rooms were situated in the north side of the cafe, while the bin were in the west side of the cafe.
At present, the serving area have been converted into hot meals, while staff dining rooms have been replaced with takeaway food and coffee bar. Bins have been converted into recycling bins and salad bar have been installed. Barbecue and outdoor seating have been installed in thesouth side of the cafe.
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 successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two plans. The overview correctly identifies that the college café underwent significant changes to its layout and facilities, specifically mentioning new additions like hot meals, takeaway food, and a coffee bar. However, there are some minor spatial inaccuracies in the body paragraphs; for instance, the student states that the kitchen and serving area were in the 'northeast corner' in the past, whereas the visual data places them in the northwest/upper-left. Similarly, the staff dining rooms and bins are mislocated. Despite these errors in orientation, the student covers the overall transformation adequately, earning a solid Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression from an introduction to an overview, past layout, and present layout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different temporal periods and aspects of the redesign. Cohesive devices are employed to structure the comparison, such as 'In the past', 'At present', and 'while'. However, some referencing is slightly mechanical and repetitive, and the spatial transitions lack precision due to the directional errors noted in task achievement. Nevertheless, the logical flow is maintained throughout, satisfying the requirements for Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting topic-specific terms such as 'relocated', 'replaced', 'converted', and 'installed'. There are, however, several noticeable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'hotel meals' instead of 'hot meals', 'takeaway foods', and spacing/preposition issues like 'in thesouth'. Vocabulary is sometimes repetitive (e.g., 'installed' used multiple times). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message, these inaccuracies prevent the score from rising into the higher bands, placing this criterion comfortably at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using temporal clauses and subordinate structures like 'while the toilets were on the southwest corner' and 'the serving area have been converted'. Control over grammar is mixed; there are noticeable grammatical errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the serving area have been converted', 'salad bar have been installed') and missing articles or prepositions ('in thesouth'). Although these errors occur, they do not impede overall communication. The command of grammar aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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