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 chart below illustrates the college cafeteria's design before and after the renewal.
Overall, the new design shows a major change with the installation of outdoor seating. There is a new opening of barbecue and salad bar. Outdoor seating comprises 5 tables. Moreover, the dining rooms were changed into a food and coffee bar.
In the new design of the cafeteria. A salad bar and barbecue are introduced. In addition to this, compared to the previous map of the cafe. There are new indoor and outdoor openings observed adjacent to the outdoor seating. Outdoor seating was seen as a dramatic change in the map of the new cafe. Which consist of 3 large tables with 6 seating capacity each and 2 small tables with 4 seating capacity each.
In addition, the serving area of the previous cafe changed to hot meals; the dining rooms changed to a food and coffee bar. There is a small change observed was the installation of recycle bin in replacement of the old bin.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| 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 outlining the main changes to the college cafe before and after the redesign, identifying key transformations such as the introduction of a salad bar, barbecue area, and outdoor seating. However, some aspects of the response are under-developed or somewhat repetitive, particularly when describing the outdoor seating and the replacement of the old staff dining rooms. While the overview highlights the main change regarding outdoor seating, further details about the unchanged kitchen and toilets could have provided a more balanced summary. The student successfully reports several relevant features and makes appropriate comparisons, meeting the requirements for this level without fully extending all potential points.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure by moving from an introductory overview to specific spatial changes in the body paragraphs. However, paragraphing and cohesion are somewhat faulty and mechanical. The student attempts to use cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'In addition to this', and 'In addition', but these are repetitive and disrupt the natural flow of ideas. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the fragment starting with 'Which consist of...', which creates a disjointed relationship between sentences. Progression within paragraphs lacks smooth transitions, leading to a choppy reading experience that prevents the response from achieving a higher level of cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 6.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying the basic transformations of the cafe such as 'salad bar', 'barbecue', 'outdoor seating', and 'hot meals'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'installation' and 'dramatic change', though there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'renewal' instead of 'redesign' or 'renovation', and 'new opening of barbecue' instead of 'addition of a barbecue area'. Spelling and word-choice errors are present, for instance, 'recycle bin' instead of 'recycling bins', but these do not impede communication, allowing the reader to easily grasp the intended meaning.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though the range of structures remains somewhat limited. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation issues throughout the text. For example, there are sentence boundary errors and fragments, such as starting a sentence with 'In the new design of the cafeteria. A salad bar...' and leaving 'Which consist of 3 large tables...' as a dangling fragment. Other errors include missing articles or pluralisation issues, such as 'replacement of old bin'. While these errors occasionally cause minor difficulty, they rarely impede overall communication, placing the grammatical control squarely within the expected parameters for this level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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