Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-13

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 plan showed above illustrate that how collage cafe was before redesign and now how it looks after it has changed and after addition of many things.

overall, the cafe had changed through varies ways as show like the addition of outdoor seatings, barbecue, saladbar, coffee bar and many of the other things which make it look great after changes a d addition

Before the changes, there was serving area with include all food and drinks. Which also include the dining rooms for staffs and a great hall in which tables and chairs are included following the trash bin and toilets in the side of cafe.

Whereas after the cafe is redesigned there are slightly changes in cafe as serving are is now becomed placed where we can get hot meals, staff dining rooms has altered to coffee bar and food take away place and there are some new addition of places like salad bar barbecues and the seating is now extented to outside the cafe.

overall the redesigned had made cafe more beautiful and more crowded which may be more helpful for making money.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main purpose of the plans and give a broad overview of the redesign, mentioning the outdoor seating, barbecue, salad bar and coffee bar. You also compare the former serving area with the new hot-meals counter and note that the staff dining rooms became takeaway and coffee facilities. These are relevant features. However, some important changes are only briefly described: for example, the recycling bins replaced the single bin, and the toilets and central seating area remained in place. The claim that the café is “more crowded” and “more helpful for making money” is not shown by the plans, so avoid adding unsupported conclusions. More precise coverage of what stayed the same and what changed would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the café before and after the redesign. “Before the changes” and “Whereas after” help signal the comparison. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and several ideas are crowded into long sentences, such as the description beginning “there was serving area.” The overview also repeats the idea of additions, while the final sentence introduces an unsupported judgement rather than completing the comparison. Use clearer sentence boundaries and organise details by location or by what changed versus what remained. More accurate linking between clauses would make the relationships easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “serving area,” “dining rooms,” “tables and chairs,” “hot meals,” and “outdoor seating,” which helps communicate the main changes. However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate or awkward, including “varies ways,” “seat­ings,” “saladbar,” and “becomed placed.” “Trash bin” is understandable, but “bin” or “waste bin” is more appropriate for this plan. Some repetition of “addition,” “cafe,” and “changes” also reduces precision. Aim to use the labels from the diagram accurately and choose natural collocations, such as “the seating area was extended outdoors” and “the staff dining rooms were converted into…”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison introduced by “Whereas,” but control is inconsistent. The opening, “The plan showed above illustrate that how…,” has problems with subject–verb agreement and clause structure. Other examples include “there was serving area,” “Which also include,” and “staff dining rooms has altered,” where articles, agreement, and verb forms are not controlled. The final sentence also joins ideas awkwardly. These errors sometimes make the reader work to understand the intended relationships, although the overall meaning is generally recoverable. Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check tense and agreement when describing the before-and-after plans.

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