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 two maps illustrate a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. At a glance, it can be seen that the area underwent significant changes, with several new facilities being added and some existing features being replaced and removed.

In the first map, on the left corner manily consisted of kitchen and several area. In the middle was some tables and chairs and staff dining rooms. This map on the right corner mainly consisted of toilets and uperward bin is located.

In the second map, the area was transformed considerably. On the left corner kitchen have been remain same and several area replace by hot meals. In the middle staff dining rooms replaced into two new facilities such as takeaway food and coffee bar cabinet. In the middle on the one side the salad bar facility and other side bins have been change in recycling bins. Tables and chairs and toilets are remain constant. Add new two facilities the first one is outdoor seating is availabe and second one is barbecue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You provide a relevant comparison of the café before and after the redesign, and your overview correctly identifies that new facilities were added while some existing features changed. You also report several accurate details: the kitchen and toilets remain, the staff dining rooms become takeaway and coffee facilities, and the bin is replaced by recycling bins. However, some important changes are only briefly mentioned or unclear. For example, the new salad bar is not located precisely, and the outdoor seating and barbecue are named without explaining that they are outside along the southern side. The description of the original layout is also vague. To strengthen the response, select the main spatial changes and describe their positions more clearly, while distinguishing what stayed the same from what was added or replaced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by one paragraph for the original plan and one for the redesigned café. This makes the before-and-after comparison easy to recognise. The repeated use of “In the first map” and “In the second map” also helps orient the reader. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in “In the middle on the one side the salad bar facility and other side bins…” The sequence of locations is not consistently clear, and several ideas are joined in long, loosely connected sentences. Use a more systematic route through the plan—for example, north, west, centre, east, then south—and connect each change explicitly to its former or current position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “transformed considerably,” “replaced,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating.” These choices show an adequate range for the task, and the main changes can generally be understood. However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise, such as “several area,” “coffee bar cabinet,” and “staff dining rooms replaced into.” Spelling errors such as “manily,” “uperward,” and “availabe” also reduce accuracy. Try to use standard plan-description phrases and precise location language, such as “along the western wall” or “in the south-west corner.” This would make the account more natural and help distinguish facilities that were added, relocated, or retained.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and the opening overview is a clear example: “the area underwent significant changes, with several new facilities being added…” However, grammatical errors occur in several sentences and sometimes make relationships unclear. Examples include “kitchen have been remain same,” “staff dining rooms replaced into,” and “Tables and chairs and toilets are remain constant.” These contain problems with verb forms, auxiliary verbs, and sentence construction. There are also errors in number and articles, as in “several area.” Aim to use a reliable past-versus-present pattern: “The kitchen remained in the same position,” followed by “The staff dining rooms were replaced by…” Checking each sentence for a clear subject and correctly formed verb would improve control.

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.