Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-31

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 illustrates that how café design was before and changed after development in nowadays. Several places were redesigned and added some new points after significant developments. However, the staff dining rooms were replaced with two sections, which is a take away food and second one is a coffee bar. Additionally, the café area is expending with some outside seating for visitors in the south side. Furthermore, A barbecue point was added in the south-west corner. The visitor will have opportunity to enjoyed outside views.The serving areas of food and drinks were converted in hot meals along with kitchen path.

Table and chairs were remained at same place in the center. A salad bar was built in the west side. Toilets were remained same at south-east corner. A bin in the east side was replaced by a recycling bin. In contrast, the kitchen occupied the same place as it was before.

Overall, by adding some main points it may benefit towards cafes income. An outdoor seating had major advantage where more individuals would serve.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the redesign, such as the addition of the barbecue point, the coffee bar, and the outdoor seating. However, the overview is weak; it focuses on potential benefits (income) rather than summarizing the key trends or major changes as required by the task. The description of the changes is sometimes imprecise, such as stating the serving areas were 'converted in hot meals,' which is unclear. While the main features are identified, the lack of a clear, analytical overview and some vague descriptions prevent this from reaching a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into three paragraphs, which is appropriate for a report. There is a logical progression from the general changes to specific details. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or slightly unnatural, such as 'In contrast, the kitchen occupied the same place as it was before.' The reference to 'the visitor' in the first paragraph is also slightly disconnected from the rest of the text. While the paragraphing is sufficient, the flow between sentences could be improved to make the relationships between the changes more explicit.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing for a basic description of the changes. There are some attempts at more specific vocabulary, such as 'redesigned,' 'significant developments,' and 'converted.' However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'expending' (instead of expanding), 'converted in hot meals' (instead of converted into a hot meal area), and 'main points' (instead of features). These errors do not impede communication, but they limit the precision of the report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'The maps illustrates that how café design was' (subject-verb agreement and word order), 'added some new points' (missing subject), 'Table and chairs were remained' (passive voice error), and 'The visitor will have opportunity to enjoyed' (tense error). While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors is noticeable and prevents the writing from being considered error-free or highly controlled.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.