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)
Map illustrates that college cafe is redesigned and it looks different from its previous design. Now cafe is looking different with some major changes and more aminities are provided in new cafe. Overall cafe is looking better than previous one.
According to map no changes have been made in kitchen. Previously serving area is used for all type of food and drinks now it is only used for hot meals. New area is made named salad bar in front of kitchen door while tables and chairs for eating remains at same place. The room specified for staff has been converted for take away food and coffee bar while the toilets is at same place. More recycling bins are placed to keep cafe neat and tidy. Now you can enjoy Barbecue with outdoor seating area with pleasent weather. Two extra doors were added in the cafe, one is near the toilets and other one is near to salad bar.
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 reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign, such as the unchanged kitchen, the new salad bar, and the addition of outdoor seating. However, some aspects are under-developed or lack precision. For instance, the mention of 'pleasent weather' moves beyond objective reporting into subjective commentary, and some comparisons lack clear spatial reference points. Overall, the main changes are identified, but the selection and reporting of data could be extended with clearer referencing to provide a more fully developed account of the transformations.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, with a clear introductory sentence followed by a description of the changes. However, the organisation suffers from a lack of effective cohesive devices and mechanical referencing. For example, sentences within the body paragraph follow one another without smooth transitional markers, relying instead on repetitive juxtaposition like 'Now serving area...' and 'New area is made...'. Paragraphing is also insufficient, as the entire body of the report is lumped into a single dense block of text, which impedes a logical progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
An adequate range of vocabulary is used for the task, with attempts at less common items such as 'redesigned', 'amenities', and 'recycling bins'. However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors that reflect a limited level of control, such as misspelling 'amenities' as 'aminities' and 'pleasant' as 'pleasent'. Furthermore, phrasing like 'Now cafe is looking different' is overly informal and repetitive. While communication is not severely impeded, these inaccuracies and the lack of precise lexical precision prevent the response from achieving a higher level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing displays a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentence structures, but control is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding missing articles ('According to map', 'in front of kitchen door', 'at same place', 'with outdoor seating area'), incorrect verb tenses and passive voice usage ('Previously serving area is used'), and punctuation issues. These errors occur regularly throughout the text, though they rarely impede overall communication. To reach a higher standard, the writer needs to improve article usage, secure better control over passive structures, and increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences.
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