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 picture given illustrates the map of a cafe before and after redesigning.

Overall, there are bins, toillets and kitchen area with meal serving counter before and after redesigning of cafe. However, after resdesigning there is addition of more furniture, food counters and seating area.

Cafe before redesigning includes bin and toilet left to the entrance. Right infront of the main door is staff dining rooms and a hall with furniture. After that on the right side there is another door which leads to kitchen. Inside kitchen there is serving area counter.

Cafe after redesigning contains take away food room and coffee bar room instead of staff dining room. Also there is addition of outdoor seating along with barbecue counter and salad bars.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad change from staff dining rooms to takeaway and coffee facilities, and you mention the new outdoor seating and barbecue. However, the account is only partial: it omits important changes such as the salad bar, the hot-meals counter, and the recycling bins, while giving little detail about what stayed the same. Some locations are also misreported: the bin and toilets are not to the left of the entrance, and the kitchen is not reached through a door on the right. The overview is relevant but vague, and the response is 27 words below the required minimum. Develop the comparison with accurate positions and cover both additions and retained features more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a basic, understandable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate descriptions of the café before and after the redesign. This helps the reader follow the general comparison. However, the progression within the descriptions is not consistently clear, particularly in the sentence beginning “Cafe before redesigning includes bin and toilet,” where the locations and sequence are difficult to interpret. Linking is also limited, with “However,” “After that,” and “Also” doing much of the work. Use a clearer spatial route through each plan—for example, describe the north, east, and south areas in order—and connect retained features with changed ones to make the comparison more cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “staff dining rooms,” “outdoor seating,” “barbecue,” and “serving area counter.” This gives the reader a basic sense of the facilities. However, the range is limited, and several choices are imprecise or awkward: “furniture” is less specific than “tables and chairs,” “barbecue counter” does not accurately describe the barbecue area, and “meal serving counter” is not the label shown in the current plan. Spelling errors such as “toillets” and “resdesigning” are noticeable. Aim for precise plan vocabulary and use the labels consistently, such as “recycling bins,” “hot-meals counter,” and “salad bar.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You communicate the main idea using mostly simple sentences, and there are attempts to combine information, as in “Cafe after redesigning contains take away food room and coffee bar room instead of staff dining room.” However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and some grammatical errors recur. For example, “The picture given illustrates the map of a cafe before and after redesigning” needs a more complete construction, while “there is addition” requires an article or a different structure. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent in phrases such as “staff dining rooms” and “salad bars.” Practise accurate comparative forms such as “has been replaced by” and “has been added,” while checking articles and singular/plural agreement.

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