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 illustration gives information about the college cafe without reconstruction and how it looks after the reconstruction. Overall, todays college cafe look beautiful and totally different.

It is quite evident from the diagram that the college cafe consist into several sections. The staff dining rooms was located in the north side and toilets had located in the southeast side. Tables and chairs had set in the front of staff dining rooms. And a Kitchen had build in the northwest side and serving area had set in the front of kitchen.

Meanwhile, nowadays college cafe is look different several more spaces are added in the cafe. Outdoor seating is set in the outside of cafe. Coffee bar and take away food are build inside in the cafe. Both salad bar and recycling bins are set in the west and east side. Hot meals area are also build in the front of kitchen.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the task by outlining the general changes between the two plans, such as the introduction of outdoor seating, a coffee bar, and a salad bar. However, the development of ideas is limited and some descriptions lack precision. For instance, the overview relies on simple descriptive statements like "todays college cafe look beautiful" rather than highlighting the most significant overall spatial trends. Certain features are only partially reported, such as mentioning the recycling bins and salad bar without clarifying their exact locations relative to the layout as a whole. To reach a higher standard, the response would need a more comprehensive selection of key features and a clearer, more fully extended comparison between the two time frames.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to structure the information logically, separating the introduction, the original layout, and the current layout into distinct paragraphs. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transitions between sentences feel abrupt, and referencing devices are occasionally unclear, such as shifting between past and present descriptions without smooth transitional links. Paragraphing is present, but the internal flow within paragraphs could be improved to ensure a clearer progression of information. To progress further, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing across sentences remains precise and natural throughout.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic concepts related to the layout changes, such as "kitchen", "toilets", "outdoor seating", and "coffee bar". However, the range is limited and there are notable word choice, word form, and spelling errors that occasionally impede communication. Examples include "todays college cafe look" instead of looks, "consist into" instead of consists of, and "are build" instead of built. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, but these attempts lead to inaccuracies. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to expand their lexical repertoire, improve word formation, and ensure accurate collocation when describing spatial arrangements.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying primarily on simple sentences with frequent errors in basic grammar and punctuation. There are notable issues with verb tenses and passive voice formation, such as "had located" instead of were located, "had set" instead of were set, and "is look different" instead of looks different. Subject-verb agreement errors are also present, such as "the staff dining rooms was located". These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a weak control of grammatical structures. To improve, the writer needs to practise accurate tense selection, master the passive voice for describing diagrams, and incorporate a wider mix of complex sentence forms with greater accuracy.

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

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