Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-16

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 two maps below depicts college cafe before it was overhaul and how it looks now.

Overall, the cafe is updated with new areas of seating and and new places in the cafe where people would have more choices.

Firstly, cafe before had a kitchen on the north side and below threre serving area for customers (food and drinks).In the center dinning rooms for staff are present while table and chairs are present right in front of the rooms furthermore bin is present on the east side of cafe and toilts are present below in the corner.

Lastly, the cafe's kitchen, Tables and chair and toilets has not been change or redesigned while bins are transform to recycling bins and the serving area is now changed to hot meal area.The dinning area of staff has changed to take away food and cofee bar the salad bar section is build on the west side of the cafe and on the bottom side of the cafe outside babecue section has been build and also oudoor seating has been installed for the people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main purpose of the redesign and report several accurate changes: the serving counter becomes a hot-meals area, the staff dining rooms are replaced by takeaway and coffee facilities, and recycling bins, a salad bar and outdoor seating are added. You also note that the kitchen and toilets remain. This gives a relevant overview, but it is broad and does not clearly distinguish the most important spatial changes. Some details are unclear or incomplete: the outdoor barbecue is mentioned, but the new southern doors and the four outdoor tables are not described, and the original entrance is omitted. Develop the overview around the expansion of customer facilities and seating, then compare locations more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the former and current layouts. Sequencing words such as “Firstly” and “Lastly” help signal the shift between the two plans. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow because several features are joined in long strings, particularly in the final paragraph. The overview also repeats the general idea of new areas without specifying the main changes, and connectors such as “while” and “and also” do not always show the relationship between details clearly. Use separate sentences to group features by location or by what changed and what stayed the same, and make references to each plan explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “north side,” “east side,” “corner,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating,” so the reader can identify many of the features. However, the range is limited and some word choices or forms are inaccurate, which makes parts of the description less clear. For example, “the cafe was overhaul” and “the serving area is now changed to hot meal area” are not natural expressions; “dining rooms” is also repeatedly misspelled as “dinning.” Aim for precise verbs such as “remained,” “was converted into,” and “was added,” and check spelling and collocations. More varied language for describing location and replacement would make the comparisons clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, and the reader can generally understand the comparison. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles and sentence boundaries are noticeable. The opening “The two maps below depicts” has a plural subject with a singular verb, while “the cafe's kitchen, Tables and chair and toilets has not been change” contains several agreement and verb-form problems. Some sentences run together, as in “...food and drinks).In the center...,” and the final paragraph combines many clauses without clear punctuation. Practise accurate past and present forms for describing change, and divide long descriptions into shorter sentences. This will help you retain some structural variety while making the relationships between features easier to follow.

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