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 plans portay the evolution of a collage cafe as it was redeveloped.

Overall, major changes can be seen such as an outdoor seating is developed outside the cafe with a barbecue,folllowed by a salad bar in the paramisis. Furthermore staff dining rooms have been reconstructed into a take away food counter, besides it there is coffee bar.

To commence with,toilets and kitchen both opposite of each other remained in the same position,just infront of the restroom multiple recycling trashcans are kept before there was single bin constituted in the space.In the south western corner a new salad bar is introduced,serving area in the north western corner was redeveloped into a section serving hot meals. In addition to that,just outside the boundry a new barbecue stand is developed with a place for people to sit outside constituting intotal five tables in both south western and south eastern corner of the map.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two plans. You successfully identified key transformations, such as the addition of the outdoor seating, barbecue area, and salad bar, alongside the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a take-away food counter and coffee bar. However, some areas are under-developed or lack complete precision; for instance, your description of the tables in the outdoor seating area mixes up details slightly ('constituting in total five tables in both south western and south eastern corner'). A clearer overview and more precise selection of key features would elevate this criterion further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The report maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to structure the information logically. You provided an introductory sentence and an overview paragraph before diving into the body details. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty due to run-on sentences and punctuation slips, such as 'To commence with,toilets and kitchen both opposite of each other remained in the same position,just infront of the restroom multiple recycling trashcans are kept'. Paragraphing is present, but clearer signposting and better management of referencing and cohesive devices would create a smoother flow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey the main transformations of the café. You made attempts at less common vocabulary items, such as 'evolution', 'redeveloped', and 'reconstructed'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, awkward word choices, and spelling or phrasing mistakes, including 'portay' instead of 'portray', 'collage cafe' instead of 'college cafe', 'paramisis' instead of premises or perimeter, and 'trashcans'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict your lexical score. Using more precise collocations and checking spelling will help improve your vocabulary range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempted a mix of simple and complex sentence forms to describe the spatial changes. There are some correct structures, but the text contains frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, particularly comma splices and run-on sentences, such as 'Furthermore staff dining rooms have been reconstructed into a take away food counter, besides it there is coffee bar.' Errors also appear in prepositions and articles, including 'outside the boundry' and 'in the same position,just infront'. Because these errors persist and affect sentence boundaries, the control of grammar remains limited to simpler, error-prone patterns.

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