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 below map demonstrates the college restaurant appearance before and after its renovation.

Overall, the map illustrates that the variety of the cafeteria expanded and staff dining rooms, serving area was replaced by hot meals, take away food and coffee bar.

Both maps depict that the surviving section of food and drink were replaced into hot meals and further, the staff cafeteria was transformed into take away food and coffee counter. It helps the customer and also staff can easily provide the products quickly to their customers.

On the other hand, the recycling bins area was extended on the same place and for salad bar the area also made in the restaurant and the area of restaurant has increased for outdoor seating and outside of the restaurant the new barbecue area was added in the restaurant and the toilets and kitchen remain on the same place.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main change as a wider range of food and drink facilities, and correctly note that the kitchen and toilets remain in place. You also mention the new salad bar, recycling bins, outdoor seating and barbecue, so the response is relevant to the plans. However, several changes are unclear or inaccurately described: the serving area became a hot-meals counter, while the former staff dining rooms were replaced by takeaway food and a coffee bar; these are not one combined transformation. The outdoor seating is outside the café, rather than an expansion of its interior. The overview is present but broad, and important layout changes are not clearly compared. The response is also four words below the required minimum, limiting the detail available.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic overall shape: an opening statement, an overview, and further details. This gives the reader some sense of the topic and the main contrast. However, progression is limited because the details are grouped into two long, loosely connected paragraphs rather than organised by area or by what changed and what stayed the same. Linking phrases such as “Both maps” and “On the other hand” do not always show a clear relationship between the information that follows. The final sentence combines several separate features, making the layout difficult to follow. Use a clearer sequence—for example, describe the north and west changes first, then the eastern and southern features—and separate each comparison into manageable sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “renovation,” “transformed,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating.” This shows an attempt to use topic-specific language rather than relying only on basic terms. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or repetitive, which sometimes makes the changes hard to understand. For example, “college restaurant appearance” is an awkward way to introduce the plans, and “the area of restaurant has increased for outdoor seating” does not clearly express that seating was added outside. “Surviving section of food and drink” is also unclear. Aim for precise map vocabulary such as “counter,” “facility,” “located,” and “was added,” and avoid repeating “area” when a more specific noun is available.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex sentence forms, including clauses joined with “that” and “and,” and the reader can generally identify the subject of the report. However, the range is limited, and complex sentences are often difficult to control. In “the surviving section of food and drink were replaced,” the subject and verb do not agree; the sentence also has an unclear construction. The final sentence runs several ideas together, with missing or misplaced punctuation, while “the toilets and kitchen remain on the same place” uses an incorrect preposition pattern. These errors sometimes make relationships between features unclear. Build accuracy with shorter comparison sentences, checking subject–verb agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries before adding more complex clauses.

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

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