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 given below maps shows the comparison between before and after architecture redesign of a cafe.

There are few major changes that occured over the past time. Firstly, the cafe has expanded their seating area by introducing a new outdoor seating area along with barbecue. Secondly, staff dining rooms has been converted into two different section which are take away food and coffee bar which used to be in front of kitchen area. In addition, a dedicated salad bar section has been contructed in front of indoor seating area. Along with this, from now hot meals will be served in kitchen section. A Bin has been replaced by a large recyling bin. And few entry-exit door has alse been constructed. Apart from this, there are not major changes in indoor seating area and toilets.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the new outdoor seating and barbecue, the conversion of the staff dining rooms, and the addition of a salad bar. You also note that the toilets and central seating area remain broadly unchanged. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the take-away and coffee-bar sections are along the north side, not “in front of kitchen area,” and the bin is replaced by recycling bins rather than one large recycling bin. The overview is present, but the description of the indoor changes is brief and does not clearly explain the hot-meals counter replacing the former serving area. The response is also 16 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail provided. Develop the comparisons more fully and accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall sequence: it introduces the redesign, lists several changes, and ends by noting what stayed the same. Linking expressions such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “In addition” help signal the list of features. However, the paragraph is presented as one block, and the repeated list-like transitions make the progression somewhat mechanical. Some connections are also unclear, particularly “Along with this, from now hot meals will be served in kitchen section,” which does not clearly relate the new counter to the previous layout. Organise the response into an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing the main changes. Use location-based grouping and clearer referencing to make comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a redesigned plan, including “seating area,” “converted,” “dedicated salad bar,” and “replaced.” These choices communicate the main changes, but the range is limited and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, such as “after architecture redesign,” “over the past time,” and “a large recyling bin.” Spelling errors in “occured,” “contructed,” and “recyling” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise plan-description language and check spelling carefully. For example, describe the café as “redesigned,” refer to “recycling bins,” and use “newly added” or “introduced” for features that were not present before. More accurate collocations would make the account clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of sentence forms, including a longer sentence beginning “Secondly” and a concluding comparison. The main meaning is generally understandable, but some grammatical errors occur across the response. For example, “There are few major changes” needs an article, while “staff dining rooms has been converted” has a subject–verb agreement error and an awkward plural construction. “Which are take away food and coffee bar” also needs clearer sentence structure and articles. The phrase “from now hot meals will be served in kitchen section” has an unsuitable tense and missing articles. Practise accurate plural agreement, articles, and past-tense descriptions of completed changes. A wider range of correctly controlled complex sentences would improve precision.

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