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 plans presents a college cafe before redevelopment and how it looks now.

Overall, the cafe underwent significant redevelopment, with new rooms and seatings areas.

It is clearly noticeable that there was lots of significant change, cafe before renovated there was staff dining rooms that was converted into take-way food and coffee bar after redesign. Meanwhile, toilet and tables and chairs in the middle and kitchen in the northwest was remained same. While bins turned into recyling bins after the cafe redesign.

The most significant change was adding the new seating area in to front of the cafe and besides seating area there was a barbecue area in the left. In addition serving area was turned into hot meal and in the nothwest left there was salad bar. On top of that there was a new gate in the front of the cafe after the redevelopment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall change—new facilities and seating—and compare several features accurately, including the staff dining rooms becoming takeaway and coffee-bar areas, the kitchen and toilets remaining, and the bin becoming recycling bins. You also mention the outdoor seating and barbecue, which are important additions. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the barbecue is described as being “besides” the seating, whereas it is to the south-west, and “a new gate” is not shown; the plan shows two new doors leading to the outdoor area. The salad bar’s position is also described imprecisely. The response is four words below the required minimum. Develop the comparisons more fully and report locations precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes. This gives the reader a basic progression from general changes to specific features. However, the overview repeats the idea of significant change, and the final two paragraphs contain several features in long, loosely connected sentences. For example, “Meanwhile” and “While” introduce comparisons, but the latter is not joined clearly to the preceding sentence. Some references, such as “in the front,” are also unclear because the plan’s orientation is not established. Grouping unchanged features together and then describing new facilities in a separate, clearly ordered paragraph would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “redevelopment,” “converted,” “seating area,” and “recycling bins,” so the main changes are generally understandable. However, spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “take-way,” “recyling,” and “nothwest” are inaccurate, while “new gate” does not accurately name the two doors shown. Some phrases are also awkward or repetitive, such as “lots of significant change” and “in to front.” Use precise plan vocabulary and check spelling, especially for labels and directional terms. A wider range of accurate expressions for location and change would help you describe the layout more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with linking words, and the reader can usually understand the intended comparisons. However, some errors in agreement, tense, articles, and sentence construction remain. For example, “The plans presents” should use a plural verb, and “there was staff dining rooms that was converted” has problems with both agreement and the relative clause. In “kitchen in the northwest was remained same,” the verb form is incorrect; use “the kitchen remained unchanged.” Several sentences also lack clear grammatical connections, particularly the sentence beginning “While bins turned into…” Practise accurate past-tense descriptions and build longer comparisons from correctly formed clauses.

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

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