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)

The given layout provides us information before the cafe of college and how it is redesigned.

Cafe of college before redesigning, was normal. It had kitchen at back, and infront of it, there was serving area for all kind of food and drinks. Just slight away from it, there was staff dining rooms, surrounded with sitting area, which contained table and chairs. At the right centre end there was placed a bin for garbage. Only on few steps at the right side from the bin there were toilets and at the left side of bin there was entrance and exit gate was take place. Before it new design there was no sitting area outdoor.

Today's cafe is so impressing, because there are so much changes compare to its old design. Many new areas are also established for customers. Kitchen is also at back and at serving area it is changed by hot meals and take away is new in cafe, with take away there is a coffee bar for consumers. At the left side of cafe there is a salad bar which gives it a modern look. At the right side, there are recycling bins, that is a good change. Toilets have no change, but one big difference is outdoor sitting which helps to take hugry people easily and at the left side of outdoor sitting, there is barbecue for tikka party, that is a positive change.

Finally, cafe changed itself from local to modern, now it has all the necassary things that every cafe wants.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both plans and identify several important changes: the kitchen remains, the serving counter becomes a hot-meals counter, new takeaway and coffee facilities appear, recycling replaces the bin, and outdoor seating with a barbecue is added. You also note that the toilets are unchanged. These details support a relevant comparison, although the overview is expressed mainly as a general judgement (“changed itself from local to modern”) rather than a concise summary of the main spatial changes. Some locations are unclear or inaccurate: the staff dining rooms were along the north wall, not simply “slight away” from the serving area, and the entrance was on the upper-right wall, not clearly to the left of the bin. The purpose of the barbecue is also not shown. Prioritise precise, plan-based comparisons and avoid unsupported interpretation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall sequence: it describes the former café, moves to the current layout, and ends with a concluding comparison. Paragraphing helps distinguish the two plans, and linking phrases such as “Before” and “Finally” guide the reader. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear, particularly “Just slight away from it” and the long sentence beginning “Kitchen is also at back,” where several new facilities are joined together. The order of details also makes some locations difficult to follow. Use a more consistent spatial route through each plan, and separate distinct changes into shorter sentences. Clear references such as “the former staff rooms” and “the eastern wall” would make the comparisons easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the main features, including “kitchen,” “serving area,” “recycling bins,” “outdoor sitting,” and “barbecue.” There are also attempts at descriptive language, such as “modern look.” However, several choices are informal, imprecise, or unnatural for an academic plan description: “cafe of college,” “so impressing,” “tikka party,” and “take hugry people easily.” Spelling errors such as “necassary” and “hugry” also reduce accuracy. Aim for neutral, precise terms for facilities and changes rather than personal evaluations or imagined uses. A more controlled range of collocations would make the description clearer and more appropriate to IELTS Academic Task 1.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the reader can generally understand the comparison. Some sentences are correctly formed, such as “Toilets have no change,” though this wording is not idiomatic. There are some recurring grammatical problems with articles, word order, agreement, and verb forms. For example, “The given layout provides us information” needs an article before “information,” while “entrance and exit gate was take place” has an incorrect verb construction. “Cafe of college before redesigning, was normal” also has awkward sentence structure and punctuation. Practise forming clear subject–verb sentences and use consistent past and present tenses when contrasting the two plans. More accurate control of these patterns would improve readability.

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