Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29
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 chart here illustrates the modification of a college cafe. The prior design describes the main features that include a large sitting area with a separate space for staff dinning. With that, a kitchen located at the top left corner of the cafa sharing a small seving area as well.
The modified version of the cafe includes several new features and the most prominent one is an outdoor seating area with a barbecue point. Further the cafa offers a separate salad bar and a recycling bin to create an sustainable environment.
With that a take away area is introduce so that the students are able to enjoy their food wherever they want. The kitchen and the toilet area are same as it is with a little improvement of offering a hot meal place so that the custumers enjoy the fresh meal.
Overall the modification provides several new features that the older version lacks and introduces many facilities for the college students.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student addresses the main aspects of the task by comparing the layout of the college cafe before and after the redesign. Key changes, such as the addition of the outdoor seating area, barbecue point, salad bar, and take-away counter, are correctly identified and reported. However, the overview is somewhat brief, and certain details lack precise spatial relationships. Nevertheless, the response adequately covers the visual data to satisfy the core requirements of Academic Task 1.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The text is divided into four paragraphs, which provides a logical structure covering introduction, body details, and conclusion. Cohesive devices such as 'With that', 'Further', and 'Overall' are used to connect ideas, though some transitional phrases feel slightly unnatural or mechanical. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression of information follows a sensible path from general description to specific alterations.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a visual diagram, using terms such as 'modification', 'prominent', 'sustainable', and 'redesign'. However, there are several spelling errors ('cafa' for cafe, 'dinning' for dining, 'seving' for serving, 'custumers' for customers) and minor collocation slips ('create an sustainable environment'). While attempts are made to use less common vocabulary, inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'The modified version of the cafe includes several new features and the most prominent one is...' and '...so that the students are able to enjoy their food wherever they want.' Grammatical control is generally decent, but punctuation and word form issues appear, such as missing articles ('an sustainable environment') and awkward phrasing ('are same as it is'). Errors do not seriously impede communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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