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 illustrate a plan that shows a college cafe before it was built and now it looks.However, there are two maps are given in which different features are locate.

Overall, in old time cafe was having small area for kitchen but now its bigger by adding sector hot meals.toilet remain same for there customers.

To begain with, as kitchen was small in past time but now it get larger by adding portion of Hot meals instead of serving area where food and drinks are served.The place which is designed for staff dining room is converted into two different sectors take away food and coffee bar.Tables and chairs remain same in both cafes

Therefore, the biggest change which is happened here addition of outdoor seating in new cafe.Barbecue sector is also there for cutomer entertainment.In contrast, bin area get broad and get name recycling bins.Salad bar is another segment at here is newly introduced.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by summarizing the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign. You successfully identified key transformations, such as the expansion of the kitchen area, the replacement of staff dining rooms with a take away food section and a coffee bar, and the addition of outdoor seating. However, some ideas are under-developed or imprecise; for example, stating that the 'toilet remain same for there customers' lacks detail, and the description of the bin area being broadened is slightly inaccurate relative to the plan showing recycling bins. The overview touches upon the main changes, but could be more fully developed to clearly outline the full scope of the structural updates.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement and attempts a logical sequence by organizing the details into an introduction, body, and conclusion-like summary. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical due to awkward transition phrases such as 'To begain with' and 'Therefore'. Referencing is not always clear, and the paragraphing lacks sufficient clarity and appropriate development. While you attempt to guide the reader through the changes from the kitchen to the outdoor areas, the transitions between sentences feel disjointed, which prevents a smoother logical progression throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to the visual data such as 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'coffee bar', and 'outdoor seating'. There are, however, noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and spelling that reflect a limited and developing lexical control. Examples include 'illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'old time cafe' instead of 'the previous layout', 'sector' instead of 'section', 'begain' instead of 'begin', and 'cutomer' instead of 'customer'. These errors do not seriously impede overall communication, but they restrict your score because less common vocabulary is attempted with frequent inaccuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

Your writing displays a limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms which often contain structural errors. There are frequent grammatical mistakes, including missing articles ('The diagram illustrate a plan', 'cafe was having small area'), incorrect prepositions or phrasing ('in old time', 'at here'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('two maps are given in which different features are locate'). Punctuation and capitalization errors are also present, such as missing spaces after periods ('now.However'). These persistent errors require effort from the reader, placing the grammatical performance firmly in the lower range.

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