Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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)

These two maps compare the layout of cafe before with its corrent day development.

Overall, redesign seems to be modernised, in addition expansion in its sitting place along with no r minimal changes in some features.

At the out set. kitchen of the cafe has been kept at the old location and design but the couter used for serving area is now used for hot meals. next to kitchen door a new area has been introduced named salad bar. In the main hall many other changes have been done for instance, the staff dining rooms are renamed as take away food and the coffee bar. The most environmental friendly design change is the transformation of bin into recycling bin, which is kept at the same place as before, next to toilet.

The expanding are is in the south of cafe, two new doors are being installed one near toilet and other with salad bae

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad change from the original café to a more developed layout, and correctly note that the kitchen remains in place, the serving counter becomes a hot-meals counter, the staff dining rooms are replaced by takeaway and coffee facilities, and the bin becomes a recycling point. However, the overview is unclear and does not summarise the most significant changes precisely. The new outdoor seating and barbecue are central features, but the final paragraph is unfinished and gives little detail about them. There are also factual inaccuracies: the new southern doors are not described as one near the toilet and one near the salad bar, and the recycling bins are on the eastern wall, not next to the toilets. Cover the outdoor area and locate changes accurately to make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an overview to descriptions of the kitchen and interior, then to the southern expansion. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “Overall” and “for instance” signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is weakened by the abrupt, incomplete final paragraph (“The expanding are is in the south of cafe”), which leaves the outdoor changes unexplained. Some transitions are awkward or unclear, including “At the out set” and “In the main hall many other changes have been done.” Group the changes by location and use clear links to compare the old and new plans. A complete final paragraph describing the outdoor seating and barbecue would make the sequence more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “layout,” “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “recycling bin,” and “outdoor seating,” and you attempt more descriptive language such as “modernised” and “environmental friendly.” However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable: “corrent,” “couter,” “sitting place,” and “expanding are” make parts of the report less clear. Some expressions are also unnatural for this context, such as “the old location and design” and “the most environmental friendly design change.” Use precise plan vocabulary and standard collocations—for example, “seating area,” “counter,” and “environmentally friendly change.” Proofreading spelling and choosing natural phrases would improve clarity and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “Overall, redesign seems to be modernised” and a sentence beginning “At the out set.” However, errors are frequent, and several sentences are difficult to follow because of missing or incorrect grammatical forms. Examples include “layout of cafe” (missing an article), “redesign seems to be modernised” (unclear construction), and “two new doors are being installed” (an inappropriate tense for describing a completed redesign). The final sentence is also incomplete, with no clear finished clause after “other with salad bae.” Use consistent past or present-perfect forms to describe the changes, check articles and sentence boundaries, and make sure each sentence expresses a complete idea.

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