Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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 diagrams here differentiates between two cafe, before and after their renovation.

Overall, major changes happened to outdoor area and minor modifications took placed at main hall and kitchen section.

Before, cafe had serving area in kitchen that presented all food and drink. Infront of it there was a main hall placed with alot of organised tables and chairs, moreover at the mid top area had dining rooms for cafe staff. At the exit side of resturant, there was a small trash can along with that had a washroom for customers and resturant itself.

Later on, cafe kitchen's serving spot was replaced with hot meals and added a complimentery salad bar on the left side covering space of tables and chairs. Employees dining rooms were divided for order take away and coffee bar by utlizing the space sensibly. A gaint dust was added at the same bin place keeping the toilet at the same place.

A major enhancement to the business was outdoor Barbecue, providing customers facility to enjoy weather and eat outside the cafe.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main transformation: the former staff dining rooms become takeaway and coffee areas, the serving counter changes to hot meals, and outdoor facilities are added. Your overview also distinguishes major outdoor changes from smaller internal ones. However, some important details are missing or unclear: the new outdoor seating area and its tables are not described, and the added barbecue is mentioned without explaining its position. The statement that the salad bar covers space previously used for tables is not supported by the plan; it is added along the western wall. The bin description is also inaccurate: recycling bins replace the original bin. More precise reporting of these features would make the comparison fuller and clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an overview to the original layout and then to the redesigned café. This gives the reader a generally coherent account, and words such as “Before” and “Later on” help signal the time comparison. However, the progression within paragraphs is sometimes awkward: the first description jumps from the serving area to the hall, staff rooms, exit and toilets without consistently locating them. Some linking phrases are unclear or mechanical, particularly “moreover at the mid top area” and “along with that.” Grouping changes by location—north, west, east and south—and using clearer references would make the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “serving area,” “main hall,” “dining rooms,” “salad bar” and “outdoor.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the description difficult to interpret. For example, “a giant dust” does not clearly describe recycling bins, while “complimentery salad bar” and “utilizing the space sensibly” are unsuitable or imprecise in this context. Spelling errors such as “utlizing” and “resturant” are also noticeable. Build a more precise set of terms for facilities and spatial relationships, and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including “Employees dining rooms were divided for order take away and coffee bar by utlizing the space sensibly.” However, errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles and verb forms are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward. For instance, “The diagrams here differentiates” has a subject–verb agreement error, and “two cafe” needs a plural form. “Major changes happened to outdoor area” also needs an article and a more controlled grammatical construction. The sentence beginning “Infront of it there was…” becomes difficult to follow because its clauses are not clearly connected. Practise accurate sentence patterns for describing what was replaced, added and retained.

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