Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-30
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 describes collage cafe's before redesigned and after renovation the present look.
overall, there is not big changes in area of cafe with exception outdoor seating area added in present. Major changes happened in interior design by adding some facilities.
Before renovation, there were kitchen and serving area combined on north west side of the cafe. Staff dining rooms were located on upper side of center hall which was allotted for tables and chairs. Toilet and dustbin was located on south east corner of the cafe.
Present cafe interior provide more facilities for customers as compare to the past with multiple variety of options in food and beverages. In the kitchen there is special area for serving hot meals. Staff rooms are converted into coffee bas take away food and section. There is a newly introduced salad bar on the west side of cafe. there are multiple bins added as compare to the past. there are two new things barbecue and outdoor seating added in the south side of it.
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 attempts to address the task by comparing the college cafe before and after its redesign. An overall trend is provided in the second paragraph, noting that the interior layout has changed and an outdoor seating area has been added. Key features such as the kitchen, staff rooms, dining space, toilets, and new additions like the salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating are mentioned. However, the response suffers from several minor omissions and inaccuracies regarding spatial placement and labeling (e.g., referring to 'coffee bas take away food and section'). The development is somewhat limited, and the overview is brief, placing this response solidly in Band 5.5 to 6.0 territory. Because all parts of the prompt are touched upon, it aligns best with Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text is organized into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overall statement, a description of the past layout, and a description of the present layout. This provides a coherent overall arrangement. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or missing entirely, and referencing can be awkward (e.g., jumping between features without smooth transitions). Paragraphing is attempted, but paragraph boundaries are a bit disjointed due to the very short second paragraph. There are repetitive structures used to introduce features (e.g., 'There were', 'There is', 'there are'). Overall, the progression is discernible, earning a Band 6 score.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with terms directly lifted or adapted from the prompt such as 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'staff dining rooms', 'salad bar', and 'outdoor seating'. The student attempts less common vocabulary ('renovation', 'facilities', 'beverages'), but these attempts are occasionally marred by spelling errors ('collage' instead of 'college', 'bas' instead of 'bar') and inaccurate word forms ('cafe's' instead of 'cafes'). Word choice is sometimes basic or imprecise. These errors do not seriously impede communication, fitting the Band 5.5/6 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though simple structures predominate. There are noticeable grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('in area of cafe', 'on north west side'), incorrect prepositions ('as compare to'), punctuation issues (missing capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for 'overall'), and pluralisation errors ('coffee bas take away food and section'). While these errors are frequent, they rarely impede the overall meaning of the text. This control level aligns with Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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