Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-22

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 show the changes that took place in the college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Overall, the area became more delovped, with the addition of take away food, cafe bar,outdoor seating and removal of serving area.

Firstly, hot meals took place of serving area. The kitchen was remained unchanged. Moreover, salad bar was constructed in the west of the cafe. Staff dinning room was converted into two portion one was take away food and other was coffee bar.

However, a new outdoor seating facility was introduced in it. Indoor tables and chairs, and toilets remained the same over the period. The introduced of barbecue just beside the outdoor seating was one of the better improvement. There was a addition of new door near the barbecue. Furthermore bin was converted into recycling bins at the right side of the cafe. These features made cafe more attractive.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the new salad bar, the conversion of the staff dining rooms, outdoor seating and barbecue, and the replacement of the bin with recycling bins. You also note that the kitchen, central tables and toilets remain. However, the overview is vague (“more delovped”) and does not clearly summarise the main transformation, while some details are unclear or inaccurate: the two staff dining rooms became take-away and coffee-bar sections, and two doors were added on the southern wall to access the outdoor seating—not a door near the barbecue. The response is also 10 words below the required minimum; the 11 words copied from the prompt are excluded. Add a clearer overview and explain the main changes more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, a brief overview, and paragraphs describing changes and features that remained. This gives the reader a general route through the comparison. However, progression within the body is not always clear. “Firstly” and “Moreover” introduce related changes, but “However” does not express a clear contrast, and the final paragraph moves between outdoor seating, unchanged facilities, the barbecue, doors and bins without a consistent spatial or thematic order. Some links are also awkward, such as “The introduced of barbecue…” A stronger approach would group changes by location or by what was added, removed and retained, using clear references to connect each point.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “converted,” “remained unchanged,” “outdoor seating” and “recycling bins.” These terms help communicate the main features. However, several word-choice, spelling and collocation problems make the description less precise, such as “more delovped,” “cafe bar,” “took place of,” and “better improvement.” “Two portion” is also an imprecise way to describe the two new sections. Aim for accurate, natural phrases that describe changes and locations, and check spelling carefully. A more precise vocabulary range would help you distinguish between facilities that were added, replaced or retained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, and the reader can generally understand the comparison. However, errors in verb forms, articles, agreement and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “The kitchen was remained unchanged” should use either “The kitchen remained unchanged” or “The kitchen was unchanged”; “Staff dinning room was converted into two portion” needs plural and article adjustments; and “There was a addition” should be “There was an addition.” The sentence beginning “The introduced of barbecue” is also not grammatically formed. Practise accurate past-tense descriptions and simple comparison structures before adding more complex clauses.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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