Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-04

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)

A college cafe is one of the most memorable part of students. The reason behind it is because everyone comes together during that short period of break and enjoy time among their friends. Thus , it is necessary for a college cafe to meet the needs for the students. It is to be noted that the cafe before redesigning ,had little facilities. Before the redesign , the cafe had a kitchen and serving area for drinks and food in one space, while the staff dining room , common space with tables and chairs, toilets and bin in one huge room. Today, the cafe has a upgrade version of the old one after redesigning. The serving area has been replaced with hot meals along with the kitchen in one shared space. The staff dining rooms have been replaced with takeaway food and coffee bar. While, toilets ,tables, and chairs remain in the same positions , a salad bar has been added to the same space along with recycling bins which replaced previous bins. The best upgrade in the layout of the cafe is the outdoor seating area with a barbecue. Thus , this shows the whole step up of the college cafe today.

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 its redesign, and includes relevant comparisons. However, some aspects are under-developed or lack full clarity. For instance, the overview provided in the introduction is somewhat conversational and could be more focused on summarizing the spatial changes shown in the diagrams. While the writer successfully highlights major additions such as the outdoor seating, barbecue, and salad bar, some specific details of the layout transitions are generalised rather than fully extended. To reach a higher standard, the response would need a clearer overall overview of the principal changes and a more comprehensive, well-structured comparison of all key areas shown in the two floor plans.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response displays a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to sequence information logically by contrasting the past layout with the current one. However, the organization suffers from a lack of effective paragraphing, as the entire body of the report is clumped together into a single block of text. Cohesive devices are sometimes used mechanically or awkwardly, such as repetitive transitions like 'Before the redesign' and 'Today'. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, making the progression of ideas feel somewhat disjointed at times. To achieve a stronger score, the writer should divide the text into distinct, logical paragraphs—such as an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for past and present features—while employing a wider and more natural range of cohesive links to guide the reader smoothly through the visual data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, successfully communicating basic features of the maps using terms like 'kitchen', 'serving area', 'salad bar', and 'outdoor seating'. The writer attempts less common vocabulary with varying degrees of success, such as referring to the modern layout as an 'upgrade version' rather than a renovated or modernized design. There are also occasional lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'memorable part of students' instead of 'part of students' memories' or 'meet the needs for the students' instead of 'meet the needs of students'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but word choice and collocations need greater precision and naturalness to convey the data with professional academic style.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating structures such as relative clauses and subordinate time clauses (e.g., 'The reason behind it is because everyone comes together...' and 'While, toilets, tables, and chairs remain in the same positions...'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('one of the most memorable part'), incorrect punctuation preceding conjunctions ('redesigning ,had'), and awkward prepositional usage ('meet the needs for the students'). Although these errors occur, they rarely impede communication, and the meaning remains clear throughout the report. To improve further, the writer should work on cleaner punctuation, strict subject-verb agreement, and more accurate article usage within complex sentence patterns.

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