Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-25

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 plans illustrates the comparison between a cafe before and after redesigning.

Overall, the main enterance, tables and chairs hall, recycling bins and toilets remains at the same places throught the time. The rest of the things have been changed.

In contrast to the old cafe, today's cafe can get a seperate kitchen including hot meal section whereas in old cafe there was there was serving area instead of hat meals. Howeever, a new salad bar along the barbecue section has introduced. While staff dining room got distributed in take away food for one section and coffee bar for the other section. A new and impressive change is that there is outdoor seating where people can enjoy their meals in the open air. The outdoor seating includes two four seater dinings at the corners and also contains three six seater dinings in the middle. In the end a new enterance and exit is added.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the broad changes and provide an overview, noting that the central seating area and toilets remain and that new facilities have been added. You also describe the conversion of the former staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee areas. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the kitchen is not described as separate, and the outdoor seating is reported as having two four-seat tables and three six-seat tables, whereas the plan shows four rectangular tables. The barbecue is outside to the south-west, not alongside the salad bar. The claim that a new entrance and exit is added is also imprecise: the new doors lead from the café to outdoor seating. Selecting the main changes accurately and explaining their locations would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and a paragraph describing changes. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “While” help signal comparisons. However, progression within the final paragraph is uneven: the kitchen, salad bar, former staff rooms and outdoor area are presented in quick succession, with some relationships between them unclear. “In the end” does not naturally introduce the final map feature, and “While staff dining room got distributed…” is a fragment rather than a complete sentence. Grouping indoor changes together and then describing the outdoor additions would create a clearer sequence. Use linking words to show genuine contrasts or additions rather than inserting them mechanically.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant plan vocabulary, including “serving area,” “salad bar,” “outdoor seating,” and “recycling bins,” and you attempt to describe changes with phrases such as “distributed” and “introduced.” However, several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “staff dining room got distributed,” “four seater dinings,” and “a new and impressive change.” Spelling errors such as “enterance,” “throught,” and “Howeever” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise, neutral language suited to describing a plan: for example, say that the staff dining rooms were replaced by two facilities, and refer to tables rather than “dinings.” This would make the description clearer and more appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and complex forms, including a comparison with “whereas” and a clause beginning “where people can enjoy their meals.” Some sentence patterns communicate the intended changes, but errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction remain. For example, “The given plans illustrates” should use a plural verb, while “the main … toilets remains” also needs plural agreement. The phrase “there was there was” repeats the verb, and “While staff dining room got distributed…” is an incomplete clause. There are also tense and article problems in “a new entrance and exit is added.” Review subject–verb agreement and make sure each sentence has a complete main clause; these corrections will help you express the comparisons more reliably.

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