Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03
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 maps illustrate a college cafeteria's main features and modifications before it was redesigned and how it seems now.
The maps show a college cafe, it was only indoor are before redesigned and now it has both indoor and outdoor area for seating also outdoor barbeque setup available in cafe today.
Before cafe was redesigned there was indoor area having kitchen in northwest corner, a serving area provides all food and drinks in front of kichen, 2 staff dinning rooms in north, toilets in southeast corner and large sitting area.
Today, the salad bar is etablished in west side of cafe inside, the serving are only offers hot meals, the 2 staff rooms are replased by take away food and coffee bar. Also there is an outdoor area having barbeque setup and seating area.
Morever, before there was only ordinary bin inside but now it is modified into recycling bins.
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 addresses all parts of the task by identifying the main features and changes in the college cafe. The overview and key developments are present, such as the addition of the outdoor seating area, the barbecue, and the conversion of staff rooms into a coffee bar and take-away section. However, some parts are more fully developed than others, and certain details are presented in a slightly repetitive or disjointed manner. The description captures the overall spatial transformation adequately, but to achieve a higher score, the response would benefit from a more cohesive and fully extended overview of the primary spatial changes without relying on fragmented sentences.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, with a clear separation of ideas into paragraphs that compare the past and present layouts. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. The transitions between sentences can feel abrupt, and referencing is not always clear, as seen in phrases like "Before cafe was redesigned there was..." where article use and transitional markers are weak. Paragraphing is attempted, but logical progression from one area of the cafe to the next lacks smooth signposting devices. To improve, you should use a wider variety of cohesive devices more naturally and ensure that sentences flow logically into one another to guide the reader seamlessly through the comparison.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing you to convey basic information about the cafe layout such as "kitchen", "serving area", and "outdoor seating". There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by noticeable word-choice and spelling inaccuracies, such as "etablished", "replased", and "Morever". While these errors do not severely impede communication, they highlight a lack of precision. To reach a higher level, you need to expand your lexical range and demonstrate more accurate spelling and word formation, ensuring that terms like "established" or "replaced" are utilized correctly within appropriate collocations.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
There is a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms attempted throughout the response. However, frequent errors in grammar and punctuation are present, which occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Issues include missing articles ("Before cafe was redesigned", "in west side"), incorrect prepositions ("in front of kichen"), and awkward phrasing like "how it seems now". While these errors rarely completely obscure meaning, they limit the grammatical control displayed. To improve, you should focus on mastering basic sentence structures, ensuring proper subject-verb agreement, and consistently applying correct article usage and prepositions in your descriptive writing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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