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 map illustrate information about the college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.These involves lot of stages.

At the outset,it is crystal that before cafe redesign kitchen area were at the top beside that there was serving area for all food and drink.Moreover,tables and chairs occupied a lot of space along with that two area are reserve for staff dinning.At the end corner there was toilets and bin for collecting garbage.

Moving towards cafe nowadays,various construction take place kitchen area remain same as it is but,serving area turned into hot meals.after that south corner salad bar were build table and chair area remains the same however,staff dining room turned into two different areas take away food and coffee bar. Furthermore,recycling bins increases in its areas.Toilets area remain same but a major change can seen outside the cafe is that build barbecue at south east corner and outside sitting area were constructed so that individuals can enjoy the outside view.

Overall,new cafe look more attractive than previous one lot of major changes taken place in given image

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the kitchen remaining in place, the serving counter becoming a hot-meals area, the former staff rooms becoming takeaway and coffee sections, and the addition of outdoor seating. However, the overview is vague: “lot of major changes” does not summarise the main pattern of redesign, and the response does not clearly compare the old and new layouts. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: the barbecue is south-west of the building, not south-east, and the salad bar is along the western wall rather than simply in a “south corner.” The recycling bins replace the bin; they do not “increase in its areas.” A clearer overview and more precise location descriptions would make the report more complete and reliable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure, moving from the former café to its current layout and ending with a brief overview. This helps the reader follow the broad comparison. However, progression within paragraphs is often difficult to track because several features are joined into long, loosely connected sentences. For example, “after that south corner salad bar were build table and chair area remains the same however…” combines multiple changes without clear boundaries. Linking phrases such as “Moreover,” “At the end,” and “Furthermore” are used, but some do not express the relationship precisely. Organise the details into clearer groups—interior changes, facilities retained, and outdoor additions—and use accurate transitions and sentence breaks.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “occupied,” “remains,” “turned into,” and “constructed,” and you attempt to vary your wording. However, the range is limited and several choices or forms are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the description unclear. Phrases such as “two area are reserve,” “staff dinning,” “recycling bins increases in its areas,” and “outside view” are not natural or precise for this task. Spelling errors such as “dinning” also reduce accuracy. Aim for standard map-description collocations, for example, “was converted into,” “was added along the western wall,” and “the bins were replaced by recycling bins.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, using connectors such as “however” and “so that,” but grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships between features hard to understand. Examples include “The map illustrate,” “kitchen area were,” and “two area are reserve,” where subject–verb agreement and verb forms are incorrect. Tense control is also inconsistent: the description shifts between “were build,” “remains,” and “take place.” Articles and sentence boundaries need attention, as in “before cafe redesign” and the run-on sequence beginning “after that south corner salad bar.” Practise describing past and present layouts with consistent tenses, and check agreement, articles, and punctuation in each sentence.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.