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)

These blueprints of cafe shows the advancements after renovation. Before redesigning, there was minimalistic features and less functionality provided by the cafe. The top left kitchen area is not much changed but segregated into salad bar and barbecue portion. A single change in kitchen section is the serving area is now specifically for hot meals. On the contrary, the main hall has significant changes like the salad bar is introduced and the number of recycling bins are increased. This is because the seating capacity is increased and thus more waste management bins are included. Another major change is in the staff dining rooms as it is converted into the coffee bar and takeaway area. Toilet area is same as it was. There is expansion at the outside of the cafe. Outdoor seating is being introduced and thus provide a great natural experience to the customers. The most highlighting change is the barbecue area that offers the unique experience of gathering and live food preparation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response covers the main changes shown in the two plans, noting the transformation of the staff dining rooms into a coffee bar and take-away area, the addition of the salad bar, outdoor seating, and the barbecue area. However, the overview is somewhat weak, and certain details are inaccurately reported or speculative—for instance, stating that the kitchen is segregated into a salad bar and barbecue, whereas the salad bar is in the main hall and the barbecue is outdoors. Furthermore, the explanation for the recycling bins is speculative rather than purely objective summary. This places the performance firmly in the Band 6 category, as it addresses the task and highlights relevant features, but contains some under-developed or inaccurate reporting of spatial relationships.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text presents a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to contrast the past and present layouts using transitional phrases such as "Before redesigning," "On the contrary," and "Another major change." However, the paragraphing is underdeveloped; the entire response is presented as a single dense block of text rather than being divided into a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. Additionally, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or abrupt, and referencing can be slightly confusing (e.g., "Toilet area is same as it was" without proper articles). Logical progression is present, but the lack of paragraph breaks limits the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary relevant to describing changes and architectural features, such as "minimalistic features," "segregated," "functionality," and "recalling bins" (though recycling bins). There are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as calling the plans "blueprints of cafe" and using "advancements" instead of "alterations" or "modifications." Phrases like "provide a great natural experience" and "most highlighting change" reflect inappropriate word forms and collocations. Vocabulary is adequate to convey the basic message, but the errors and limited precision prevent it from reaching Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as "Before redesigning, there was minimalistic features..." and "This is because the seating capacity is increased and thus more waste management bins are included." There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ("blueprints... shows", "there was minimalistic features" instead of "there were"), missing articles ("at the outside of the cafe"), and awkward passive constructions ("Outdoor seating is being introduced"). While these errors do not completely obscure meaning, they occur with enough frequency across simple and complex structures to warrant a Band 5.5.

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

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