Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-09

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 pair of maps delineate the redesigned of college cafe from its orginall design that have been made earlier.

Overall, it is clear that college cafe now have a lot of facilities and addtion of several new section

Looking at the initial design there is alot of space left behid with very less facilities available. While, seeing at initial degin there was a kitchen and at the front side there was a Serving area having all kinds of foods and drinks. There was also a Staff dining rooms located at the top mid area and most of the area was covered with Tables and chairs.

Now, there have been a lot of improvement with the addition of several new sections.One of the major improvement is the addtion of Outdoor seating area. In Outdoor area there is also a facilities of enjoying barbecue which is located left hand side. After redesign there have been made several new section that is salaad bar section, Hot meals section, Take away food section and finally coffee bar section. The major improvement in redesign is the replacement of serving area with Hot meals. The other is replacement of Dinng rooms of staff with take away and coffee bar section. Toilets remain same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change from a single serving area to several food facilities, and your overview notes that the café has gained new sections. You also accurately mention the outdoor seating and barbecue, the replacement of the staff dining rooms, and the toilets remaining in place. These details address the task, but some important comparisons are incomplete or unclear: for example, you do not mention the salad bar’s position on the western wall, the recycling bins replacing the bin, or the new doors to the outdoor area. The claim that there was “a lot of space left” is not clearly supported by the plan. To strengthen the report, describe the main spatial changes more precisely and distinguish what stayed the same from what was added or replaced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overall statement, and separate descriptions of the original and redesigned café. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the final paragraph is less controlled: it moves from outdoor seating to a list of new sections, then repeats the replacement of the serving area and staff rooms. The transition “While, seeing at initial degin” is unclear, and “Now” does not always make the relationship between details explicit. Grouping changes by location or by what was added, replaced, and retained would make the comparison easier to follow. Use linking phrases selectively and avoid repeating points already covered.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant plan vocabulary, including “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “outdoor seating,” “barbecue,” and “replacement,” so the reader can identify many of the facilities. However, word choice and spelling are noticeably inconsistent, as in “orginall,” “addtion,” “salaad,” and “Dinng.” Some expressions are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “a lot of improvement,” “facilities of enjoying barbecue,” and “front side.” These choices sometimes make the description less clear, even though the general meaning is usually recoverable. Aim for accurate, neutral map language and check spelling carefully; terms such as “redesign,” “located,” and “introduced” can help you describe changes more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including “While, seeing at initial degin there was a kitchen…” and “The major improvement in redesign is the replacement…”. However, control is uneven, and several sentence patterns contain errors. For example, “the redesigned of college cafe” has an incorrect noun structure, while “college cafe now have” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The opening sentence also shifts awkwardly between past and present forms, and “there have been made several new section” has faulty passive construction and number agreement. Some punctuation, particularly the comma after “While,” also disrupts the sentence. Practise accurate past-tense descriptions and straightforward comparison structures before adding more complex clauses.

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