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.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The maps illustrates college cafe plan and its changes with redesigning the cafe.

Overall,there are lot of changes made in the recent designe of cafe,earlier, cafe have less facilties in every part,However in the recent design also made a lot of facilties like,adding the barbque section,take away room hot meals and salad bar also add in this design.

In earlier design of cafe, there a many space was free in the cafe side,also the toilets was loacted in the right bottom of the plan.While, the tables and chairs and set in the center of the cafe,following this the staff room was also placed at the top center of the plan. Nonetheless,the kitchen and serving area also placed at the left top of the plan.

Now according to new design a many changes made in the new construction of the cafe.Firstly, the main and beneficial change is amde in the new design is add the the outdoor sitting for the custumors, nearly this the barbeque area is also placed to next this.More the salad bar is placed in the center left of the design, hot meals section also construced at the top left of this area.Indeed, the tables and chairs are also same to preveious design, toilets are same.The section where also made a change is take away and coffe bar also placed in the place of staff dinning room.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the overall redesign and report several relevant changes, including the new outdoor seating and barbecue, the salad bar, and the replacement of the staff dining rooms with takeaway and coffee facilities. You also correctly note that the toilets and central tables and chairs remain. This gives a generally relevant account of both plans. However, some important details are unclear or incomplete: for example, the serving counter becomes a hot-meals section, and the former single bin is replaced by recycling bins, but these changes are not clearly explained. The overview that the old café had “less facilities in every part” is broad and not fully supported, since some features remain unchanged. A more precise overview and clearer comparisons would make the main changes easier to understand.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph about the earlier plan, and one about the current design. This helps the reader follow the comparison, and phrases such as “In earlier design” and “Now according to new design” signal the shift between plans. However, progression within sentences is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in the overview and the final paragraph, where several changes are joined together without clear relationships. Connectors such as “Nonetheless,” “More,” and “Indeed” do not always express the intended link between ideas. Use simpler transitions and group related changes—for example, indoor service changes together and outdoor additions together—to make the organisation more consistently clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant plan vocabulary, including “serving area,” “tables and chairs,” “salad bar,” and “outdoor seating,” so the reader can identify many of the features. There are also attempts to vary wording, such as “redesigning” and “construction.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable and sometimes make the description less clear: “designe,” “facilties,” “barbque,” and “custumors” are examples. Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise, such as “free in the cafe side” and “placed to next this.” Aim for accurate, conventional map-description language and check spelling carefully. Reusing precise terms from the plan is preferable to using a varied expression that does not clearly describe a location or change.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, and the response includes some useful comparisons, such as noting that the toilets and tables remain in the same positions. However, errors in sentence structure, verb forms, agreement, and articles occur across the response. For example, “The maps illustrates” has subject–verb disagreement, while “there a many space was free” is not a well-formed clause. In “the tables and chairs are also same,” the comparison needs a grammatical structure such as “remain the same.” Commas are also often used where full stops or clearer clause boundaries are needed, creating run-on sentences. Practise building accurate sentences with a clear subject and verb, then combine ideas using controlled subordinate clauses.

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