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 given maps presents the before and after of a college cafe. Overall, there have been several changes in the cafe and the most noticeable being the additon of an outdoor seating area and seperate designated spaces for different food types.

In the previous design, the cafe had a kitchen and a serving area that served all kinds of food and drinks at one spot. The kitchen is again at the same spot but serving area only serves hot food istead of all meals. There were two staff dining rooms which have been converted into a takeaway food spot and a coffee bar.

In the redesigned cafe, there is an additional outdoor seating area with a barbeque corner on the side. Two additonal entrance and exit spots have been added at the outdoor seating area as well. The toilets and indoor seating area remained at the same locality, while the bin has been upgraded to a recycling bin. A new salad bad is added to the left side of the cafe aswell.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by summarising the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign. An overview is provided right at the beginning, noting the addition of outdoor seating and specialised food areas. Key spatial changes are accurately reported, such as the conversion of staff dining rooms into a takeaway spot and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar along the western wall, and the inclusion of a barbecue area. However, there are minor mechanical errors in detail transcription, such as misspelling 'salad bar' as 'salad bad'. Overall, the response covers all relevant transformations adequately and reaches the word count requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The information is organised logically, moving from an introductory overview to specific changes in the interior and exterior of the cafe. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction from the body details. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the comparison, using phrases such as 'In the previous design' and 'In the redesigned cafe'. However, referencing and transitions between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band, as some connections feel slightly mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a process or map comparison task, using terms such as 'redesigned', 'designated spaces', and 'converted'. There are, however, some noticeable spelling and lexical errors, such as 'presents' instead of 'present' in the opening sentence ('The given maps presents'), 'additon' instead of 'addition', and 'salad bad' instead of 'salad bar'. These errors do not impede communication but prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as relative clauses and temporal transitions ('In the previous design, the cafe had...'). Grammatical control is generally fair, though there are several noticeable errors, including subject-verb agreement ('The given maps presents') and typographical slips ('istead' instead of 'instead'). Complex structures are attempted with varying success, but the errors are non-systematic and do not obscure the overall meaning of the text.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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