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 college cafe was redesigned with a completely new outlook.

College cafe had a simple architecture which was redesign with a completely new look and was given a different vibe. A new salad bar and the out door seating with barbecue station was the major game changer.

Initially, cafe design was very simple with entrance from the right side. After entering a bin and toilet were on the righthand. In the middle tables and chairs were placed. Beside it were two staff dining room with two different entrances. In the very end of restaurant a serving area with all food and drinks was available with the kitchen in the back area.

After redesigning the cafe was given a major upgradation. The bins were replaced with recycling bins. The staff dining rooms were converted into takeaway food and coffee bar respectively. In the very end a salad bar was a new addition to the cafe. On the right corner of the end hot meals were kept. The biggest change was the outdoor seating and a barbecue station. Two new doors were added to join the outdoors with the indoors

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the two plans, noting key changes such as the addition of the salad bar, outdoor seating, barbecue station, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a takeaway food area and coffee bar. However, the overview is rather brief and repetitive, and some spatial descriptions lack precision or contain minor inaccuracies, such as the placement of hot meals. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the development of ideas remains slightly superficial, placing the response solidly in Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay is organized into four paragraphs, moving from an introductory statement to a general overview, a description of the past layout, and finally the current layout. Paragraphing is attempted appropriately. However, progression is sometimes disjointed due to abrupt transitions and slightly mechanical cohesive devices, such as 'Initially' and 'After redesigning'. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to the visual data such as 'salad bar', 'coffee bar', 'takeaway food', and 'barbecue station'. There are several vocabulary errors and awkward collocations, such as 'completely new outlook' instead of 'layout', 'out door seating', and 'major upgradation' instead of 'major upgrade'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choices occasionally lack precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'A new salad bar and the out door seating with barbecue station was the major game changer.' However, grammatical control is inconsistent, featuring errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('College cafe had...' and '...was the major game changer' where plural subjects or articles are missing) and punctuation errors. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from reaching Band 6.

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

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