Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 maps compare the changes in a college cafe infrustructure between cafe before and cafe now.

Overall, the cafe changed in several area, completely a new outdoos seating area was extended in the outside of the cafe along with the barbecue and also a salad bar was shown in the new map.

Firstly, food and drinks serving area converted into hot meals area, a salad bar was constructed in the middel left corner of the cafe. Staff dining rooms were removed and replaced by the take away food and a coffee bar.

In the right side of the map, Trash bin was extented to recyciling bins.Two door was added to access the outdoor seating area one beside the toilet which is located right bottom corner in the map and another one is the bottom of the salad bar. In outdoor seating area tables and chairs included in the map.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the conversion of the serving area to hot meals, the replacement of the staff dining rooms with takeaway and coffee facilities, and the addition of outdoor seating and a salad bar. Your overview also signals that the café has been redesigned. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the recycling bins replaced the single bin rather than being an extension of it, and the new southern doors are not described as being beside the toilet or at the bottom of the salad bar. The barbecue is mentioned only in the overview, with no clear location. The response is also one word below the required minimum. Develop the main changes more precisely and include a fuller account of the new outdoor area.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes. Sequencing words such as “Overall” and “Firstly” help signal the stages of the description, and the reader can follow the broad contrast between the old and new layouts. However, progression is uneven: the final paragraph combines the eastern wall, toilets, new doors, and outdoor seating without a clear spatial route. Some links are also awkward or missing, as in “recycling bins.Two door,” where the ideas run together. Organise details by area—for example, the north and west changes, then the east and south—and use clear sentence boundaries and references to make the layout easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “converted,” “replaced,” “constructed,” and “outdoor seating,” which helps communicate the redesign. There is some variety in how you describe changes, but the range is limited and several word choices or spellings reduce precision. “Cafe infrustructure” is an inaccurate and misspelled phrase for the layout, while “Trash bin was extented to recyciling bins” does not express the change clearly. “Middel left corner” and “outdoos” also contain spelling errors. Choose precise terms for locations and changes, and check spelling carefully. More accurate phrases such as “the café layout,” “was replaced by,” and “along the western wall” would make the description clearer and more appropriate to this task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentences, including a contrast with “Staff dining rooms were removed and replaced by…” and a sentence describing the new doors. However, grammatical errors are frequent, and the sentence structures are often incomplete or faulty. For example, “Overall, the cafe changed in several area, completely a new…” lacks a clear grammatical connection between its clauses. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and plurals in “Two door was added,” and the phrase “tables and chairs included in the map” is missing a verb. Use complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, check singular/plural agreement, and punctuate each sentence separately. These changes will make your meaning more consistently clear.

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

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