Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-08
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 given diagram shows the paln of a institutional cafe before it was redesigned and how it look now a days by comparing them both.
Overall, the cafe stucture before redesign has a kitchen on the left top side with serving area where all food and drinks are approchable. Then from the enterance u saw toilets and bin area at the right side.Futher with some walking distance u saw 2 staff dinning rooms and a big hall in which chairs and tabels are arranged .
In comparison of old cafe todays cafe have numerous changes. when you enter the building you saw same recycling bin and toilets at right side,with the walking distance from the entrance at the place of staff dinning there is coffe bar and take away food counter now. then their is a huge hall in which tabels and chairs are arranged ,at the end of hall now their is a salad bar. now one more addition is outdoor sitting with barbecue counter on the right side of cafe hall.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
You identify the main purpose of the plans and make a relevant comparison between the former and current café, including the kitchen, seating, staff dining rooms, counters, toilets and outdoor seating. The overview also recognises that the café has undergone numerous changes. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the recycling bins are described as being the same as the old bin, although the plan shows a change in type, and the barbecue is placed on the right rather than immediately to the south-west. The new salad bar and the added southern doors could also be described more precisely. To strengthen the response, select the most significant changes and report their locations accurately, while distinguishing what remained unchanged from what was added or replaced.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and a paragraph comparing the current layout with the former one. This gives the reader a basic progression from the original café to its redesign. However, the comparison is sometimes difficult to follow because several features are packed into long sentences, and phrases such as “with the walking distance from the entrance” do not clearly explain their spatial relationship. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In comparison,” and “now” help signal the stages, but “now” is repeated and some transitions feel mechanical. Organise the details by area—for example, the north and west counters, the central seating, then the southern outdoor area—and use clearer references to guide the reader.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “kitchen,” “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “tables and chairs,” and “outdoor sitting.” This gives you enough topic-specific language to communicate the main changes. However, spelling errors such as “paln,” “stucture,” “enterance,” and “dinning” are noticeable, and some choices are imprecise or unnatural: “approchable” does not clearly describe the serving area, while “walking distance” is not an effective way to locate the counters. “Barbecue counter” also mislabels the barbecue area. Work on accurate spelling and use standard plan-description terms such as “located,” “counter,” “section,” and “outdoor seating” to make the account more precise.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a comparison introduced by “In comparison of old cafe todays cafe have numerous changes.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “how it look now a days” has incorrect verb form and agreement, and “when you enter the building you saw” shifts inconsistently between present and past. Articles and sentence boundaries are also often missing, as in “at the right side,with the walking distance.” Use the present tense consistently to describe both plans, check subject–verb agreement, and divide long sequences into complete sentences. More accurate punctuation and controlled complex sentences would make the spatial comparisons easier to understand.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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