Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-26

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 illustrates the information about the redesign of the college cafe. In todays there are many changes in this area after rebuilding it.

As an overview, it can be noticed that the staff dining rooms was restructured and become two sections take away food and coffee bar.

To begin with, the kitchen area was same as it was in before times although the hot meals are newly build at the place of serving area that was for food and drink. Moreover, staff dining rooms is demolished it has a two section before it is now become two corners for takeaway food and coffee bar.

Moving towards to the rest of the information, the bin was redesigned and name it as recycling bin at the same area. Toilets and table and chairs area cannot changed and it is in same position. Additionally barbecue is newly build in outer section of the cafe and in front of it builds a outdoor eating area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the replacement of the staff dining rooms with takeaway and coffee sections, the change from a bin to recycling bins, and the addition of outdoor seating and a barbecue. You also note that the kitchen and toilets remain in place. These details are relevant and broadly accurate. However, the overview focuses mainly on the former staff rooms and does not summarise the wider redesign, especially the new salad bar and the expansion of café facilities outside. Some descriptions are unclear or incomplete: for example, the hot-meals counter replaces the former serving area, rather than being newly built as a separate area. Covering these features more precisely and giving a fuller overview would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes. Phrases such as “As an overview” and “Moving towards to the rest of the information” signal the intended progression. However, the organisation is not always easy to follow because several changes are compressed into long, loosely connected sentences. The paragraph beginning “To begin with” combines the kitchen, serving counter, and staff rooms, while the final paragraph groups bins, toilets, seating, barbecue, and outdoor dining without a clear spatial sequence. Some linking phrases are also awkward or repetitive. Grouping the internal changes together and then describing the outdoor additions, with clearer transitions, would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “redesign,” “restructured,” “recycling bin,” and “outdoor seating.” This gives you a workable range for the task, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which sometimes makes the intended change less precise. For instance, “newly build” is not the natural way to describe an added facility, and “two corners” does not accurately describe the takeaway and coffee-bar sections. “Outer section” and “outdoor eating area” are understandable but less precise than standard plan-description terms. Aim to use exact labels from the plan and practise common phrases such as “was replaced by,” “was converted into,” and “was added.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, using clauses such as “although the hot meals are newly build at the place of serving area.” However, errors in agreement, tense, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response and sometimes make relationships between changes unclear. Examples include “The plans illustrates,” “the staff dining rooms was restructured,” and “Toilets and table and chairs area cannot changed.” The description also shifts between past and present forms, although the plans compare a former layout with the current one. Use past simple for the former arrangement and present simple for the current plan, and check subject–verb agreement and verb forms. Shorter, carefully controlled sentences would help you express comparisons more accurately.

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

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