Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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 diagram shows the changes in an institute cafe after reconstruction and before the redesign.

Overall, it can be seen that the cafe is now change a lot now it have more facilities than before, some of the areas are now constructed and some of them are changed into something else. Such as outdoor seating,recycling bin and many more.

However, before the redesign cafe has less facilities, lets start with the upper floor of the cafe where kitchen and serving area ( all food and drink) were well connected to each other. While in the bottom of the cafe there was a staff dining rooms, where two table and numbers of chairs were there for sitting. Moreover, after exit from the staff dinning rooms there was an area where tables and chair are presented for the visitors. In the corner of the cafe there was a bin and beside of that there was a toilet.

Furthermore, after redesign it have more amenties than before kitchen is on the same place and serving area was replaced by hot meals with in the left side of the corner there is a salad bar and in the botton nothing changed the table and chairs is stiill there. staff dining is changed by take away food and coffee bar. In the right corner dustbin is now larger than before and washroom is still there with no changes. Outside of the cafe outdoor seating is available for the guest and barbecue option also presented.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after the redesign, such as the kitchen, seating areas, and new amenities like the salad bar and outdoor seating. However, some areas are under-developed or inaccurately described. For instance, the student states that 'staff dining rooms were well connected to each other' before the redesign, whereas the visual data shows two separate rooms. While an overview is attempted at the beginning, some details are confusingly organised, meaning the response sits comfortably within the band for addressing the task partially or unevenly, with relevant but occasionally underdeveloped ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement by contrasting the past layout with the current one across different paragraphs. However, the logical progression is hindered by repetitive phrasing and faulty cohesive devices. For example, transitional phrases like 'lets start with the upper floor' and 'Furthermore, after redesign' are used rather mechanically. Additionally, referencing is sometimes unclear, such as shifting abruptly between locations without clear spatial signposts. Paragraphing is present, but the internal flow within paragraphs lacks smooth transitions, keeping the response at a level where organisation is apparent but progression lacks clarity.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating basic terms related to a floor plan such as 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'take away food', and 'coffee bar'. However, there are notable word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'institute cafe after reconstruction' instead of 'college cafe after renovation', and inventing the word 'amenties' for amenities. Spelling and word-form errors, including 'botton' for bottom and 'stiill' for still, occur throughout the text, though they generally do not prevent communication, aligning with a limited but minimally adequate lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency and agreement, such as 'the cafe is now change a lot now it have more facilities' and 'after redesign it have more amenties'. Punctuation is also weak, with run-on sentences and missing capitalization at the beginning of clauses. Although some basic sentences are formed correctly, the frequent grammatical errors across complex structures cause occasional difficulty for the reader, placing the grammar at this level.

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