Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-14

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 illustrates the design of an collage cafe, before doing some re-designing in it and how it looks now after making changes in its form.

Overall, before the caffe redesign there was kitchen at the corner, followed by serving area for all kind of food and drinks. An separate staff room and a large hall area with table and chairs in it. Also toilet and bin at corner. Whereas, cafe now is kitchen at the same area, while food and drinks replced by hot meals. There is a new salad bar at left corner, in addition take food away a coffe bar and everything else is same, but changes is seen in out-door area with barbecue area and out-door seating.

Starting with pre-design caffe, in upper corner is kitchen then after an area for seving all kind of food and drinks, with addition to an indoor area for seating where tables and chairs is kept. Whereas, there is separate staff dining room and then at corner Toilets and bin area.

On the other hand, cafe today has many new areas, specifically that out-door seating. Although, there is not much changes indoor without some like, that salad bar, take away food and coffe bar respectively. The bin is also re-design to recycling bins.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast between the original café and its redesigned version, including the kitchen remaining in place, the serving counter becoming a hot-meals counter, and new facilities such as the salad bar, takeaway section, coffee bar and outdoor seating. The overview also notes that much of the indoor layout is retained. These are relevant features and give the reader a general picture of the changes. However, some details are inaccurate or too vague: the staff dining rooms are described as a “separate staff room,” and the new outdoor barbecue is mentioned without explaining its position. The account also says “everything else is same,” overlooking the recycling bins and the new southern doors. Select and describe the key changes more precisely, including what was removed and where additions are located.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the earlier and current plans. This helps the reader follow the comparison, and phrases such as “Whereas” and “On the other hand” signal contrast. However, the two detail paragraphs repeat information already given in the overview, particularly the kitchen, seating, toilets and new food areas, so progression is limited. Some links are also awkward or unclear, as in “Although, there is not much changes indoor without some like,” which makes the relationship between ideas difficult to follow. Organise the details by location or by changes versus unchanged features, and use fewer repeated summaries. Clearer referencing would also help distinguish the original layout from the current one.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “serving area,” “staff dining room,” “salad bar,” “recycling bins” and “out-door seating.” This gives you enough topic-specific language to communicate the broad changes. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “collage,” “caffe,” “replced,” “seving” and “coffe,” and some phrases are imprecise or unnatural, such as “take food away” and “changes in its form.” Repeated use of “area” and “new” also limits variety. Aim for accurate, conventional labels and collocations, such as “takeaway counter” and “the café’s layout was redesigned.” Proofreading spelling and choosing precise terms will make the description clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, using contrast clauses such as “Whereas, cafe now is kitchen at the same area” and “Although, there is not much changes indoor.” This shows an effort to compare the two plans, but grammatical control is inconsistent. Errors include subject–verb agreement in “The plans illustrates” and “tables and chairs is kept,” missing or incorrect articles in “an collage cafe” and “there was kitchen,” and incomplete sentence structures such as “An separate staff room and a large hall area.” Some punctuation around linking words is also faulty. Build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement, articles and plural forms. More accurate complex sentences would make your comparisons easier to understand.

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

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