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 two maps illustrates how vollege cafe was redesigned and how its look prior and present.

Overall, there has been significant changes to infrastructure, furniture and facilities over the given period. The cafe increased in size over the years.

Before, cafe was redesigned and serving area like all food and drinks available. The two different rooms for staff dining was built in the center. While, bin had been located to the south west corner. The area of tables and chairs had been expanded. Toilets had been constructed at the end of the building nearest the bin.

At present, serving area have been replaced by hot meals. In the kitchen have been not change seen. The area of dining rooms for staff have been converted into take away food and coffee bar. Salad bar have been added up in the area of tables and chairs. Recycling bins have been increased in the capacity. Barbecue and outdoor seating have been set up outside of the building.

AI examiner evaluation

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 the redesign, meeting the word count requirement comfortably. However, some aspects of the task are handled more fully than others. The overview captures the general sense of change, and several specific alterations are identified, such as the addition of the salad bar, outdoor seating, and the barbecue area. On the other hand, certain descriptions are slightly confused or under-developed, such as stating that the cafe increased in size or misinterpreting the exact layout of the former staff rooms and serving counters. To reach a higher level, the response needs to present a more accurate and fully extended selection of key features without minor confusions about spatial arrangements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure by introducing the maps in the opening, providing a brief overview, and then contrasting the past and present layouts in dedicated paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different sections of the response. However, cohesion at the sentence level is occasionally mechanical or faulty. Phrases like 'While, bin had been located' and abrupt transitions between sentences disrupt the natural flow of information. Additionally, referencing and logical progression could be smoother to guide the reader seamlessly between the past and present comparisons. Improving cohesive devices and ensuring clearer logical links between sentences would elevate this aspect.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

An adequate range of vocabulary is deployed for the task, allowing the writer to discuss infrastructure changes, furniture, and facilities. There are successful attempts to use less common vocabulary items such as 'infrastructure', 'converted', and 'capacity'. However, noticeable word choice, collocation, and word formation errors occur throughout the text, including 'vollege cafe', 'how its look', 'serving area like all food and drinks available', and 'added up'. While these lexical inaccuracies do not completely impede communication, they occasionally strain the reader's understanding. To improve, the writer should focus on precise word choices, correct prepositional usage in collocations, and checking word forms to ensure natural expression.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb forms, tenses, articles, and passive structures, such as 'The two maps illustrates', 'Before, cafe was redesigned', 'The two different rooms for staff dining was built', 'In the kitchen have been not change seen', and 'Salad bar have been added up'. These errors reflect a limited control over complex sentence patterns and agreement rules. Although communication is generally maintained despite these flaws, the high frequency of grammatical slips prevents the writing from achieving a higher band. Greater accuracy in verb agreement, tense consistency, and article usage is required.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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