Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-23

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 plans compare a college cafe before redesigned and showed how they looked after modification.

Overall, there are many new facilities provided,some things are replaced and removed.In addition, by providing these facilities cafe become more attractive place among individuals.

In terms of redesign, on the north-west corner cafe contained a kitchen,a serving area(all foods/drink) and there were two rooms for dining of staff members on the north side.Moreover, toilets and bin were situated on the east-south bottom.

By contrast, in nowadays cafe, serving area has been replaced by hot meals.Two dining rooms have been converted into coffee bar and take away food.While table and chairs noticed no changed and bin has been occupied more space with recycling facilitily.Outdoor seating also provided

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad change from the original café to its redesigned form, including the kitchen, staff dining rooms, hot meals, coffee bar, takeaway food and outdoor seating. The overview that new facilities were added is relevant, and several locations are reported accurately. However, the account is incomplete: it omits the new salad bar and barbecue, and does not clearly explain that the toilets remain in place or that the central seating area is unchanged. The claim that recycling facilities “occupied more space” is not supported by the plans. The response also contains 121 words, below the required 150, which limits the detail available. To strengthen the report, cover the main additions and unchanged features and describe their positions precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic, useful structure: an introduction, a general overview, and paragraphs contrasting the original and current layouts. Phrases such as “Overall” and “By contrast” help signal the organisation. However, progression within the final paragraph is abrupt: “Outdoor seating also provided” appears without a clear link to the preceding changes, and the report ends before the comparison is fully developed. Some connections are awkward or incomplete, including “While table and chairs noticed no changed,” which makes the relationship between ideas difficult to follow. Grouping the changes by area—for example, north side, interior, and exterior—and using complete linking sentences would make the sequence clearer and cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant layout vocabulary, including “north-west corner,” “serving area,” “converted,” and “outdoor seating,” so the reader can understand the general subject. There is also some attempt to vary wording when describing changes. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unclear: “cafe become more attractive place among individuals,” “bin has been occupied more space,” and “recycling facilitily.” “Before redesigned” and “in nowadays cafe” are also not natural expressions. These errors make some descriptions harder to interpret and show that the range is not yet consistently controlled. Use precise plan vocabulary such as “was replaced by,” “was added,” and “remained unchanged,” and check spelling and natural word combinations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and more complex comparisons, such as “Two dining rooms have been converted into coffee bar and take away food.” However, grammatical errors occur frequently and sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. Examples include “before redesigned,” “cafe become,” and “Outdoor seating also provided,” where verb forms or sentence structure are incomplete. In “While table and chairs noticed no changed,” the clause lacks a correctly formed verb and has problems with number and tense. Articles and agreement are also inconsistent, as in “a kitchen” followed by “two rooms for dining of staff members.” Focus first on complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, then check tense consistency, articles, plurals, and punctuation.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.