Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 map illustrates the design of a cafe before it was restructured and how the cafe seems now after the modifications that have been made to it.

Before the cafe was redesigned, the only main entrance and exit door was just on the right corner of east side of cafe. Also there was just one bin placed outside of the washrooms. However, the cafe had two serving rooms for employees. Also, inside the kitchen entrance there was a food and fluid serving corner.

After the modifications placed in the design of it , there is addition in entrance gate in the south side of cafe right next to toilet side and the one exit gate has also been installed in the south side of the cafe. Barbecue along with some outdoor sitting arrangements has also been introduced in the south entrance area and exit area. The kitchen subarea has now only hotmeals serving menu.The staff room changes into cofee bar and leftover food takaway. Salad bar has also been placed inside the cafe in left west side of cafe right next to exit door in south.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task only partially, fulfilling some requirements while missing others. You have attempted to describe the changes to the college cafe, noting features such as the kitchen, toilets, and the addition of the barbecue and outdoor seating. However, some parts of the overview are limited or unclear, and key details from the maps are under-developed or inaccurately described. For instance, mentioning that the cafe had 'two serving rooms for employees' misinterprets the staff dining rooms, and the overall progression lacks a well-structured summary of the major spatial transformations. To reach a higher level, you need to present a clearer, more comprehensive overview of the main trends and changes without introducing confusing or inaccurate descriptions of the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement, allowing the reader to follow the general comparison between the two plans. You have organised the information into a basic introduction and body paragraphs comparing the 'before' and 'after' states. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. Words and phrases used to link ideas—such as 'Also' and 'After the modifications placed in the design of it'—tend to be repetitive and lack smooth transitions. Furthermore, referencing is not always clear, making it difficult to track specific locations on the map. To improve, you should employ a wider range of cohesive devices more naturally and structure your paragraphs so that information flows logically from one area of the cafe to another.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

Your vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing you to communicate basic features of the maps, but the range is limited. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'restructured', 'modifications', and 'arrangements', but these are accompanied by noticeable word choice errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'food and fluid serving corner' and 'leftover food takaway'. Additionally, there are some minor spelling slips like 'cofee'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they restrict the precision of your descriptions. To achieve a higher score, you should expand your range of functional vocabulary for describing spatial changes, ensuring precise collocations and accurate word forms when discussing architectural features and layouts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writing displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are often faulty. You show some control over basic past and present tenses, but there are frequent errors in prepositions, articles, and word order within grammatical patterns—for instance, 'on the right corner of east side of cafe' and 'in left west side of cafe right next to exit door in south'. These errors require the reader to occasionally pause, although they rarely completely obscure your meaning. To progress further, you need to incorporate a greater variety of complex structures with improved accuracy, paying closer attention to prepositions of place and article usage when describing map features.

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