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)
The diagram illustrates a cafe in his old look and after the changes made to its design with a new look.
If we focus on the two pictures so it is evident that a focus was made on the outer side of the cafe by adding a barbecue area and also an outdoor seating is arranged for the customers which was not mentioned in the old cafe whereas some changes were made to the inner side of the cafe like a take away food corner is built for the customers that don't like the dining, inaddition to that a coffee bar is also redesigned in the space of staff dining area which was present in the old structure.
A new and separate salad bar is have a designated area which was not present in the old cafe whereas a separate section for hot meals is clear in the new cafe.
One thing which is erased from the new cafe is the staff dining area.
A clear modification is made to the cafe and the main focus is on the customer well being which was not clear in the old cafe.
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 the redesign, such as the new outdoor seating, barbecue area, salad bar, and the changes to the north wall. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others, and certain details are treated somewhat generally, keeping the response at this level. For instance, the mention of the staff dining rooms being replaced by a take-away food corner and coffee bar is relevant, but the overall progression of how the space was completely reorganized could have been highlighted with more clarity and precision. The overview is partially integrated, though some descriptive points lack sufficient supporting detail to reach a higher tier of development.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a recognizable structure moving from the introduction to specific interior and exterior changes. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and awkward, notably in transitional phrasing such as 'If we focus on the two pictures so it is evident that...' and 'inaddition to that a coffee bar is also redesigned...'. Paragraphing is limited, with the main body content clumped into dense blocks rather than being logically broken down into distinct spatial themes, which affects the overall logical progression and flow of information.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to the visual data such as 'barbecue area', 'outdoor seating', 'salad bar', and 'hot meals'. There are several word choice and word formation inaccuracies that do not impede communication, such as 'in his old look' instead of 'in its previous layout', 'is have a designated area' instead of 'has a designated area', and 'customer well being'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with occasional awkwardness, reflecting a developing lexical control.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though attempts at complexity occasionally result in structural awkwardness and run-on sentences, such as the lengthy second sentence of the first paragraph. There are frequent grammatical errors involving prepositions, articles, and verb forms, including 'an outdoor seating is arranged' (uncountable noun misuse with an article), 'doesn't like the dining', and punctuation issues like missing commas in complex clauses. These errors are noticeable but rarely impede overall communication.
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