Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-07

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 plan shows the college cafe bwfore renivation and how it looks currently.

Overall, There is comparison of college cafe layout after and before renivation. There is addition of outdoor seating, barbecue area, salad bar area, Hot meals, Take away food and Coffee area in the existing cafe design.

Before Redesign, the central area consists of two staff dining rooms seperated by a wall, a bin, and toilets.Furthermore, there is a kitchen area above the centeral area where food and drink are also served.

After renovation, there is addition of salad bar on the left side in the central area.The staffrooms were changed into coffee bar and take away food. No change is seen in tables and chairs.The name of Bin area changed into Bin recycling.The outdoor seating is established and comprises of five table and chairs alongwith barbecue area on the left side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the new salad bar, the conversion of the staff rooms into a coffee bar and takeaway area, and the outdoor seating and barbecue. However, the overview is mostly a list rather than a clear summary of the main transformation, and some details are inaccurate: the outdoor area has four tables, not five, and the plan labels the eastern facility “Recycling bins,” not “Bin recycling.” You also say the central area consists of the staff rooms, although these were along the north wall and the central space contained tables and chairs. The kitchen remains, while its serving counter becomes a hot-meals counter; this key change is not clearly reported. The response is six words below the required minimum, and fuller, more accurate coverage would strengthen it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the original and redesigned café. This makes the comparison reasonably easy to follow, and transitions such as “Before Redesign” and “After renovation” help signal the stages. However, the progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear: the sentence beginning “Before Redesign” groups the staff rooms, bin and toilets as though they define the central area, then moves abruptly to the kitchen. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “there is” and “there is addition.” Improve cohesion by grouping features by location or by change, and use clearer references such as “the former staff rooms” and “the eastern wall.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant plan vocabulary, including “central area,” “staff dining rooms,” “salad bar,” “outdoor seating” and “barbecue area,” so the main features can generally be understood. However, the range is limited and some choices are inaccurate or awkward: “Bin recycling” reverses the plan’s label “Recycling bins,” while “five table and chairs” does not describe the four tables shown. Spelling errors such as “bwfore,” “renivation,” “seperated” and “centeral” are noticeable. Phrases such as “there is addition” and “the outdoor seating is established” are also unnatural for describing a plan. Use precise location and change vocabulary, for example “was replaced by,” “along the western wall” and “was added outside.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You communicate the broad before-and-after comparison using both simple sentences and some more developed structures, such as “The staffrooms were changed into coffee bar and take away food.” However, grammatical control is uneven. Articles and plurals are missing in phrases such as “into coffee bar” and “five table and chairs,” and “There is comparison” is not a well-formed opening construction. The sentence “Before Redesign, the central area consists of two staff dining rooms…” also uses the present tense for the former layout and creates an unclear relationship between the rooms and central area. Punctuation is inconsistent, including the missing space after “toilets.” Use past tense consistently for the former plan, check articles and plural forms, and vary sentence patterns while keeping each comparison clear.

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