Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-19

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 plans below show a collage cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

The first design of cafe area before redesign is very simple and easy.Overall the cafe changed alot with new food counters, removed rooms,and out door seating area.

In the top left corner, the kitchen is still remains at the same place, there was one serving area for all food and drinks. Now this area is a hot meal counter, and the two staff dining rooms has been replaced to take away food and coffee bar.

The tables and chairs still located in the middle of the cafe.On the left wall, a new salad bar has been added. The toilets are still in the bottom-right corner. But the single bin has been replaced to recycling bin.

Finally, a new outdoor seating area has been built outside the southren entrance, which includes several,tables ,chairs, and a barbecue section in the bottom left corner of the wall.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main changes and give a useful overview: the café gains new food counters and outdoor seating, while the toilets and central tables remain. Several comparisons are accurate, including the kitchen staying in the same place and the bin becoming recycling bins. However, some details are incomplete or unclear. The outdoor area is described as having “several” tables, but the plan shows four, and the barbecue’s position is not clearly reported as outside to the south-west. The two new doors in the southern wall are also omitted. The phrase “the first design … is very simple and easy” is subjective rather than a relevant comparison. More precise coverage of these features would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable progression: an overview is followed by descriptions of the upper area, the central and side features, and finally the outdoor space. Paragraph breaks help separate these points, and linking words such as “Overall,” “Now,” and “Finally” guide the reader. However, the progression is not always smooth: “In the top left corner” moves directly into several changes without clearly organising the description by before-and-after features. Some links are mechanical or awkward, particularly “But” before the bin change, and the final paragraph begins with “Finally” despite the outdoor area being the only remaining feature. Use clearer grouping and more precise referencing to make relationships between the original and current plans easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “top left corner,” “serving area,” “salad bar,” and “outdoor seating area.” This gives the reader a generally clear picture of the redesign. However, the range is somewhat limited and several choices are imprecise or unnatural: “collage cafe” does not accurately name the place, “first design” is less suitable than “original layout,” and “easy” does not convey a meaningful feature of the plan. There are also spelling and form errors, such as “alot,” “out door,” and “southren.” Aim for accurate plan-description terms and check compound words and spelling. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish the café’s facilities and the locations of changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a comparison with “while” implied across the before-and-after description and a relative clause in “which includes several tables.” Most sentences communicate the intended changes, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “the kitchen is still remains” uses two verb forms where one is needed, and “the two staff dining rooms has been replaced” has subject–verb disagreement and an incorrect plural construction. Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention: “The tables and chairs still located” is missing a verb, while “cafe.On” needs a space and clearer punctuation. Practise accurate present and past forms, agreement, and complete clauses; this will make your comparisons more controlled and easier to read.

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