Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 map shows the difference of design, before and after of a cafeteria in a College.

Overall, the redesign has brought many improvements all of the factors, as the way how food is served now or if it is the sittings, the things look more sophisticated and well organized. However, the sttaf have lost their designated place with the introduction of take-away food counter and Coffee bar.

Before the change, there was only one serving counter for all kind of foods and drinks, just next to the kitchen. The college staff had their own two seperated dining rooms, but within the big dining hall which serves as dining hall for any kind of general public, also having restrooms and a bin.

Today the place looks completely new, now there are 5 serving counters, as the Salad bar, and the Barbecue, and the take-away counter, and the Coffee bar, and the Hot meals area that has replaced the Old all-in-one serving area. Dining hall lost some area, which is now converted into outdoor seating, and equipped with tables and chairs, and it also has a good view of barbecue being cooked live

. More bins are now added as well.

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. The overview captures the general transformation successfully, noting that things look more sophisticated and organized. However, some details are slightly under-developed or imprecise, such as describing the exact layout changes of the serving counters. The selection of information is generally relevant, mentioning the new take-away food counter, coffee bar, salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating area, while noting the removal of the staff dining rooms. To reach a higher level, the writer should ensure that all key spatial relationships and structural alterations are reported with greater precision and extended further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression from past to present features. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction and overview from the detailed body paragraphs describing the layout changes. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or somewhat faulty, particularly in transitions between sentences and ideas, such as "Today the place looks completely new, now there are 5 serving counters, as the Salad bar..." Furthermore, referencing and organizational markers could be managed more skillfully to create smoother connections. Improving the flexibility of cohesive devices and ensuring seamless logical flow throughout would elevate the organizational quality.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common items such as "sophisticated," "redesign," and "recycled bins" (implied by recycling bins). However, there are notable instances of awkward word choice, collocation issues, and lexical errors, such as "sittings" instead of seating, "sttaf" (spelling error), and "all kind of foods" instead of all kinds of food. These inaccuracies do not severely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to demonstrate greater precision in word choice, eliminate spelling slips, and use collocations more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in sentence structure. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation that persist throughout the text. Examples include article omission or misuse ("the map shows the difference of design"), preposition errors ("improvements all of the factors"), and punctuation slips, such as the dangling full stop before the final sentence. While these errors rarely completely obscure the meaning, they are noticeable and affect the overall control of grammar. Incorporating a wider variety of error-free complex structures and polishing grammatical accuracy, especially regarding prepositions and articles, is necessary for further improvement.

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