Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-20

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 maps illustrate the college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks today.

Overall, the kitchen and toilets remianed unchanged throughout the period where bin replaced to recycling bins.The serving area transfromed into hot meals while, staff dining rooms redesigned into take away food and coffee bar.However, the area of tables and chair expand into the salad bar.Outside the cafe, the barbecue and outdoor seeting was introduced.

Before the cafe redesign, kitchen was located at the top of cafe and its below there was a serving area where all kind of drinks and food had been served. At the centre of the cafe the table and chairs placed and near table and chairs the staff dinning rooms was located. The toilets were at the corner of the cafe and left side of the cafe there was a bin.

After the cafe redesign, the kitchen was remained unchanged while below the kitchen the hot meals was served. At the centre of the cafe where tables and chairs were located the area was expanded and salad bar was built there while, staff dinning rooms replaced into two parts the take away food and coffee bar. The toilets remained unchanged throughout the period and near the toilets the recycling bins was introduced.

Outside the cafe, the seating area was established where students can sit and enjoy there meals and at the corner of the outside barbecue was introduced.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main before-and-after changes and give a clear overview, noting that the kitchen and toilets remain, the serving counter becomes a hot-meals area, and new outdoor seating and a barbecue are added. These are relevant comparisons and support a response that addresses the task well. Some details, however, are unclear or inaccurate: the salad bar was added along the western wall, not created by expanding the central tables-and-chairs area; the recycling bins replace the bin on the eastern wall, rather than being near the toilets; and the original bin was not on the left side. The outdoor layout and the new doors on the southern wall could also be described more precisely. More accurate location reporting would make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a useful overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by separate descriptions of the café before and after the redesign, with a final paragraph on the exterior. This makes the broad sequence easy to follow. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by unclear links and repetitive phrasing. For example, the overview joins several changes in a run-on sentence, while “while” is used awkwardly in “the kitchen was remained unchanged while below the kitchen…”. Some references, such as “there” and “the area,” do not clearly identify the location being discussed. Use shorter, clearly punctuated sentences and organise details consistently by area—for example, north, centre, east, then outside—to improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant map vocabulary, including “redesigned,” “serving area,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating,” and you attempt to describe changes with verbs such as “replaced” and “introduced.” This gives you enough vocabulary to communicate the main features, but inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations are noticeable and sometimes make descriptions less precise. Examples include “remianed,” “transfromed,” “seeting,” and “dinning,” as well as “the area of tables and chair expand into the salad bar,” which does not accurately express the spatial relationship. “At the corner of the outside” is also an unnatural location phrase. Check spelling carefully and choose verbs that distinguish between a feature being added, replaced, or remaining in place.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “while” and clauses describing where features were located. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries are frequent enough to make some sentences difficult to read. For example, “the kitchen was remained unchanged” should be “the kitchen remained unchanged,” and “the hot meals was served” needs subject–verb agreement and a more suitable construction. In “the table and chairs placed,” the verb is missing, while “the recycling bins was introduced” also has an agreement error. Several sentences run together after full stops, as in the overview. Practise accurate past-tense descriptions and check each sentence for a complete verb and correct agreement.

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