Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-02
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 demonstrates the Pre and Post design of Cafe in which many significants changes are carriedout. The changes in the plan are described below.
Firstly, main change in the design is for the sitting arrangement which is now also expanded for outside dinning as well which was only in indoor perviously, this will increase the capacity of students in cafe. Morever, in the kitchen, the Serving area table si now utilized are hot meals area and a takeaway counters such as food and coffee bar are also included in new layout. Finally the recycle bin area in the righ side increase as compared to old one, and also the salad bar introduced on the left side. THe new design of the cafe also have barbecue counter outside which was not there previously. The cafe is overall on same area but the layout is change which is now giving more services than the older.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all main features of the two maps, addressing the task in an acceptable manner. You correctly identified key transformations such as the expansion into outdoor seating, the addition of a barbecue counter, a salad bar, and the conversion of staff rooms into a takeaway and coffee bar. However, some parts of the response are more fully developed than others, and a few details lack precision or are slightly unclear, such as the mention that 'the recycle bin area in the righ side increase'. While you provide a clear overview at the end of the text, some of your supporting details are under-developed, which prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction and conclusion, allowing the reader to follow the general flow of changes between the two plans. You attempted to organise your ideas using sequencing devices like 'Firstly' and 'Finally'. However, cohesion is at times mechanical and referencing is not always clear, particularly with abrupt transitions between sentences like 'Morever, in the kitchen...' and the lack of smooth links between the spatial features. Paragraphing is also rudimentary, as the response is essentially structured as a single block of text rather than distinct, well-managed paragraphs that group related spatial transformations together.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
Your vocabulary range is adequate for the task, allowing you to successfully describe the physical changes shown in the diagrams, using appropriate terms such as 'redesigned', 'layout', and 'counter'. You make some attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'significants' and 'perviously', but these are marred by word-form and spelling inaccuracies. There are also occasional word-choice issues, such as writing 'sitting arrangement' instead of 'seating area' or 'dinning' instead of 'dining'. While these errors do not seriously impede communication, they reflect a lack of precision that keeps the lexical score at this level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms in your writing, attempting structures like 'which was only in indoor perviously' and 'which was not there previously'. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text. These include subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'The plans demonstrates', missing articles, such as 'in cafe', and awkward prepositional usage like 'on the left side' or 'in the righ side'. Punctuation is also problematic, including run-on structures and capitalization errors like 'THe'. These errors require some effort to decode, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning completely.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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