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 plan given here shows the comparison of the redesign of the college cafe before and after.

The major changes which can be seen here are the addition of the barbecue with outdoor seating, and the replacement of the staff dining rooms with a takeaway food room and coffee bar.

The former college cafe had a kitchen on the top of the north side. which is sitll there and no changes are made. But immediate to the kitchen where previously the serving are a was present not it got changes to Hot meals room. If we come out of Hot meals room previously the two rooms were persent side to side which were Staff dining rooms which now are got converted to Takeaway food and Coffee bar.

The position for the Tables and chairs and toilets has not moved.Also even though the position of the bin has not changed it got replaced by recycling bin. And last but not the least it also has a Barbecue with Outdoor seating which was absent previously. Also previously only one entry gate was present on the east side but now that the cafe also introduced the outdoor seating one opening also opened from south side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting an overview of the main changes and selecting key features to compare. For instance, the student correctly highlights the addition of the outdoor seating and barbecue, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a takeaway food room and a coffee bar. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack precision. The description contains minor inaccuracies in reading the map, such as placing the kitchen 'on the top of the north side' rather than specifying the upper-left section, and mentioning that the bin got replaced by a recycling bin on the eastern wall, which is generally accurate. The overview provided in the second paragraph gives a clear summary, but the body paragraphs lack fully extended comparisons of all spatial transformations, keeping the response at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical path by moving from major changes to specific structural alterations between the two plans. Paragraphing is attempted, though paragraph breaks are somewhat fragmented, with single-sentence paragraphs appearing. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'The major changes which can be seen here', 'The former college cafe', and 'If we come out of Hot meals room', but referencing and conjunctions are occasionally mechanical or awkward, as seen in phrases like 'And last but not the least it also has'. The progression of information is generally understandable, but the flow is sometimes disrupted by repetitive transitions and informal phrasing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic spatial changes and alterations to facilities. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary and task-specific terms, such as 'redesign', 'replacement', 'conversion', and 'recycling bin'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'serving are a was present not it got changes to Hot meals room' and 'staff dining rooms which now are got converted'. Spelling and word-formation errors, such as 'sitll' instead of 'still' and 'persent' instead of 'present', occur throughout the response, though they rarely impede overall communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to combine clauses with relative pronouns and subordinating conjunctions. There are, however, frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. Examples include verb form and agreement issues such as 'which is sitll there and no changes are made', 'where previously the serving are a was present not it got changes', and 'two openings also opened from south side'. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing commas and run-on structures that make some sentences difficult to parse smoothly, although meaning is generally retrievable.

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