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 diagram illustrates the college cafe before and after redesigned. The old cafe was few places to enjoyed and today cafe has multiple choices for college students and staff.

Overall, as we can clearly seen that the previous plan of cafe was limited areas such as: kitchen with serving area, staff dining rooms, table and chairs in middle, toilets and a bin. As compare to new design of college cafe was modern design for example, kitchen with hot meals, addition of salad bar, take away food, coffee bar, little bit increased the recycling bins and also addition of barbecue outside the cafe with outdoor seating area.

Finally, the old cafe has limited place as compared to today cafe is expanded with facilities like outdoor area, barbecue, salad bar, take away center, coffee bar also added in new design. Moreover, students has many options in today cafe previous cafe has limited stock and facility.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main contrast between the older, more limited café and the wider range of facilities in the redesigned one, and you mention several accurate changes: the hot-meal counter, salad bar, takeaway and coffee areas, recycling bins, barbecue and outdoor seating. This gives the response a relevant overview and addresses the central purpose of the plans. However, some important spatial changes are not clearly reported, including the replacement of the staff dining rooms and the new southern doors leading to outdoor seating. The claim that the café is “expanded” is also too broad: the plans show added outdoor facilities, but do not establish that the indoor café itself is larger. More precise comparisons of what stayed the same and what changed would make the account more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an opening, an overview-like paragraph and a final paragraph, so there is some organisation. However, the progression is not clear because the second and third paragraphs repeat the same general point: the new café offers more facilities and choices. “Overall” and “Finally” do not create a meaningful sequence, and the list of features in the middle paragraph is difficult to follow. Grouping the information by location or by changes—such as the north side, the central area and the new outdoor section—would give the description a clearer route through the plans. Use linking expressions to show specific comparisons, rather than relying on repeated general statements.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “salad bar,” “recycling bins” and “outdoor seating,” which helps communicate the main features. However, the range is limited and several phrases are imprecise or unnatural, such as “few places to enjoyed,” “multiple choices” and “limited stock and facility.” “Little bit increased the recycling bins” does not clearly describe the change shown; the plans indicate that recycling bins replace the bin, not that their number or size increases. Aim for precise terms for changes and locations, and avoid repeating “limited” and “addition.” More accurate collocations would make the description clearer and more suitable for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer structures, including “as we can clearly seen that…” and “as compare to…,” but these constructions are not controlled, and most sentences rely on simple statements or lists. Errors in verb forms and agreement occur in examples such as “before and after redesigned,” “students has” and “as we can clearly seen.” Articles and sentence structure are also problematic in “the old cafe was few places to enjoyed.” These errors sometimes make the intended relationship between ideas difficult to understand. Practise accurate simple comparison sentences first, then add subordinate clauses—for example, contrasting what remained unchanged with what was added. Check subject–verb agreement, verb forms and sentence boundaries during editing.

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