Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-15

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 figures illustrate the layouts of a college cafe before and after redesigned.

Firstly, we will discuss the design before the renovation. The cafeteria was very basic facilities.There was no outdoor sitting available. It basically consiste a kitche, serving area where every type of food hot or cold was served.There lies a small staff dining room which was specified for the workers thoes used to work in the cafe. And right near the toilets lies a small bin used for the trash.The cafe had a large hall with tables and chaird placed for students.

Secondly, the cafe was reconstructed with better plans and ammendments which were quiet useful for students. the cafe is quiet improved with many facilities.Now we will discuss about the new improvments made those are like outdoor siting was made, the bin was upgraded to recycling bin. The new addition of barbeque and salad bar was made.The most necessary coffee bar was introduced. Also the oppurtunity of take away food was introduced. A section of hot meals was seprated

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad contrast between the original café and its redesigned version, noting the new outdoor seating, barbecue, salad bar, coffee bar, takeaway option and recycling bins. However, the response gives only a limited account of the plans and does not clearly summarise the main changes as a whole. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: the original plan shows two staff dining rooms, not one, and the bin is on the eastern wall below the entrance rather than near the toilets. The new hot-meals counter is mentioned only at the unfinished end, while the unchanged central seating area and toilets are not compared. A clearer overview followed by accurate, selected comparisons would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable before-and-after structure, signalled by “Firstly” and “Secondly,” and most details are grouped under the relevant layout. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, the sequencing is somewhat mechanical, and the second paragraph becomes a list of additions rather than a connected comparison. Phrases such as “Now we will discuss” and “those are like” take up space without clarifying relationships between features. The final sentence, “A section of hot meals was seprated,” is incomplete, which weakens the ending. Organise the report around the main changes—new services, outdoor facilities, and features that remained—and use clearer links between them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a café plan, including “serving area,” “staff dining room,” “recycling bin,” “barbeque,” and “take away food.” This provides a basic range, but word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less precise. For example, “sitting” is used where “seating” is intended, “quiet useful” appears to mean “quite useful,” and “ammendments” and “oppurtunity” are misspelled. Expressions such as “better plans” and “most necessary coffee bar” are vague or unnatural for a factual report. Use precise plan vocabulary and check spelling; avoid evaluative claims about improvements unless the diagram itself supports them.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, control is inconsistent, with errors in sentence boundaries, verb forms, articles, and agreement. For example, “The cafeteria was very basic facilities” lacks a grammatical link between the subject and its description, while “It basically consiste a kitche” has an incorrect verb pattern. “There lies a small staff dining room” uses an unsuitable tense and does not match the plan’s two rooms. Several sentences run together without appropriate punctuation, such as the description of the serving area. Practise building accurate sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use past and present forms consistently when comparing the two plans.

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