Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-12

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 plans are comparing the past and present of the cafe. The plans illustrate cafeteria of a college before it was redesigned and how it looks today.

Firstly, college's cafe before redesign, there were two doors for entrance, after entering the cafe there were bathrooms for both men and women on the left side of the entrance, there were two staff dining rooms next to the toilets, sitting area was next to staff dining rooms and tables and chairs were arranged by staff, also there was a serving area on the left side of staff room and next to the serving area there was a kitchen to prepare food.

Now, few changes are made in the cafe, few substances are similar like entrance, bathrooms, sitting area and kitchen. Now, by adding changes in the cafe, it occupies more space than past. Outdoor seating is added for crowded situations, now cafe also offers barbecue, coffee bar and section of take away food is added instead of staff dining rooms.

precisely, these changes can hold the rush of students and also cafe can earn well than past.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad purpose of the plans and mention several genuine changes, including the new outdoor seating, barbecue, coffee bar and takeaway section. However, the account is only partly accurate and leaves out important mapped features. For example, the toilets are in the bottom-right corner, not on the left of the entrance, and the staff dining rooms were along the top wall rather than next to the toilets. The description also says the café occupies more space without clearly explaining that the building’s interior is largely retained and the outdoor area is added to the south. The overview is limited, and the final claim about handling student rushes and earning more is speculation rather than information shown in the plans. Prioritise accurate locations and a concise summary of the main changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic sequence: an introduction, a description of the former layout, and a paragraph about the current café. This gives the reader some sense of comparison, and phrases such as “before redesign” and “Now” signal the time contrast. However, the progression is not consistently clear because many features are packed into one long sentence, especially the paragraph beginning “Firstly”. The repeated use of “there were” and “now” also makes the linking mechanical. The final sentence beginning “precisely” is detached from the map description and introduces an unsupported conclusion. Use separate paragraphs for the overview and key changes, group details by location, and use clear contrasts such as “whereas” and “in addition” to guide the reader.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough basic vocabulary to identify the main facilities, including “staff dining rooms”, “serving area”, “kitchen” and “outdoor seating”. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing a plan. “Bathrooms” is less precise than “toilets”, while “substances” does not mean changes or facilities in this context. The phrase “sitting area” is vague when the plan labels the central space as tables and chairs, and “hold the rush of students” is an awkward expression. Repetition of “cafe”, “area” and “changes” also limits precision. Build a more varied set of terms for layout and change, and check collocations so that the description remains clear and factual.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts longer sentences and uses past and present forms to compare the plans, but control is inconsistent. For example, “Firstly, college's cafe before redesign, there were…” is not a complete, well-formed opening clause, and the long sentence that follows joins several separate observations with commas. There are also errors in articles and possessives, as in “the cafe” and “college's cafe”, and the sentence “few changes are made” does not use a suitable tense for describing the current plan. Capitalisation and punctuation are uneven, including the lowercase “precisely” after a full stop. Use a wider mix of short, accurate sentences and controlled comparisons, such as “The toilets remain in the south-east corner, while…”; check articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries.

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