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.

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 before and after layouts of a college cafe which is proposed to redevelop.At a glance,there are major changes in the outdoor space which has been exceeded in order to make spaces for seating and some other implementations has taken place simultaneously.

Overall, it is clear that,there will be a plenty of spatial changes for stuents to seat from the southern part of the cafe.Furthermore,right beside the outdoor seating the cafe has introduced a new barbecue section as well as a salad bar in the central part.To the upper corner,staff dining room is going to be replaced with take away food and coffee bar.However,the placement of tables and chairs,bins and toilet area will remain unchanged.Consequently,the place seems to be reformed into a larger area in accordance with the new developmental layout design.

In conclusion,the whole redesigning the infrastructure of this college cafe will undergo with major changes in outdoor seatings,barbecue,staff dining rooms and salad bar sections,otherwise the whole layout which was already constructed before are tend to remain the same.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main direction of change: new outdoor seating and a barbecue, the replacement of the staff dining rooms, and the retention of the central tables, bins and toilets. This gives the reader a relevant overview of the redesign. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the salad bar is along the western wall, not in the central part, and the recycling bins replace the original bin rather than remaining unchanged. The kitchen and toilets also remain, while the serving counter becomes a hot-meals counter; these useful comparisons are omitted. Your account addresses the task, but several features are only briefly mentioned and the layout changes are not described precisely enough.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has an overall structure, moving from an introduction to an overview and then a concluding summary, and it groups related changes such as outdoor seating and the barbecue. This makes the general message understandable. However, the conclusion largely repeats the overview instead of adding a clear final comparison, and the sequence of details is sometimes difficult to follow: the salad bar is described as central, while the staff-room replacement is introduced with “To the upper corner.” Linking expressions such as “Furthermore,” “However,” and “Consequently” are used, but some do not show a clear logical relationship. Organise the body by location or by retained versus changed features, and use references and transitions more precisely.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “layouts,” “outdoor seating,” “barbecue section,” and “replaced,” so the reader can recognise the main changes. There is also an attempt to use less common language, such as “developmental layout design,” but several choices are inaccurate or unnatural and reduce precision. For example, “the outdoor space … has been exceeded” does not clearly express that seating was added, and “implementations” is not suitable for describing facilities. “Seat” is also used where “sit” or “seating” is needed. Spelling errors such as “stuents” and “cafe” inconsistently written as “cafe/café” further affect control. Prefer straightforward, accurate map vocabulary over elaborate phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, including clauses introduced by “which” and “as well as.” However, errors in sentence construction, verb forms, agreement and punctuation are frequent enough to make some relationships unclear. For instance, “which is proposed to redevelop” does not correctly express that the café is being redesigned, and “the whole redesigning … will undergo with major changes” has an incorrect verb pattern. In “a plenty of spatial changes,” the article and noun phrase are not formed correctly; “the whole layout … are tend to remain” also has agreement and verb-form problems. Commas are often attached to the following word, and several sentences run together. Practise accurate past/present comparisons and check each sentence’s subject and verb.

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