Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-26

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 maps depict the developments that have taken place in a cafe. It can be seen that some radical changes have been made as well as expansion of the cafe occurred.

Overall, as it is visually evident the cafe has been made bigger in addition to a wide variation of meals that the cafe has to offer.

Before redesigning the present cafe into its current state, the cafe only consisted of a single food preparation along with a serving area. After entering the cafe, one can observe the staff dining room straight ahead, whereas the hall is filled with tables and chairs to accommodate the incoming customers. the toilets are present at the end of the cafe on the other end of the entrance away from the kitchen and the bins are right across it. The kitchen plays a vital role for the cafe for manage the meals and has a door for the staff to enter.

On the other hand, after the renovation and development the cafe has upgraded its infrastructure and menu. The entrance along with the kitchen and toilets still remain the same. However, the kitchen only serves hot meals and the bins are replaced with the recycling ones. An outdoor seating arrange were taken place and barbecue section has been introduced there. There has been a new opening inside for a salad bar. Lastly, the staff dining rooms have been replaced with take away services and a coffee bar.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features of the cafe redesign, including the expansion and the addition of new facilities like the salad bar and coffee bar. However, the response includes some irrelevant information not present in the diagrams, such as the claim that the cafe now offers a 'wide variation of meals' or that the kitchen 'only serves hot meals'. These details are not supported by the visual data provided. To improve, ensure that every point made is strictly derived from the provided plans rather than inferred or invented. The overview is clear, but focusing more on the spatial changes would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs covering the 'before' and 'after' states. You use some cohesive devices such as 'on the other hand', 'after entering', and 'lastly' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'the bins are right across it' without explicitly stating what 'it' refers to. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the progression of ideas is generally easy to follow, though the connection between sentences could be improved for better flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'infrastructure', 'redesigning', and 'accommodate'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'outdoor seating arrange were taken place', which is grammatically and lexically awkward. Additionally, the phrase 'radical changes' is slightly informal for an academic report. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations related to describing maps and spatial changes, and ensure that your vocabulary is consistently accurate and appropriate for a formal report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is good. However, there are several grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For example, 'the cafe only consisted of a single food preparation' is missing a noun (e.g., 'area'), and 'outdoor seating arrange were taken place' contains multiple errors in verb tense and word form. There are also minor punctuation issues, such as the lowercase 't' at the start of the sentence 'the toilets are present'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to limit the score.

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

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