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)

These plans show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. There is few changing in both of them. There was a kitchen where the food was prepared. With kitchen there was a serving area (all food & drink). Along that, there was a big tables and chairs area. There were two small staff dining room. There was bin and toilets in right corner.

The cafe now looks very different as compare to before it was redesigned. At the top, there is a kitchen. With that, there are hot meals. At the left side of the map, there is sald bar in the middle of left side. And in left corner outside the map, there is barbecue area. With that there is a big outdoor sitting. Inside of the right corner, there is toilets area.Opposite that, there is recycling bin area. In the middle of the map, Tables and chairs area is found. Opposite of that, there is take away food corner and cooffe bar. They both are located in seperate room, But the rooms are connected with each other. There are much more facilities included after redesigning.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several relevant features, including the kitchen, hot-meal counter, salad bar, recycling bins, toilets, and new outdoor seating, and you note that the café has changed. However, the comparison is only partly developed: the overview that there are “few changing” conflicts with your later statement that it “looks very different,” and the key changes are not clearly summarised. Some locations are inaccurate or unclear: the barbecue is outside to the south-west, not simply “in left corner outside the map,” and the take-away and coffee-bar sections are adjoining, rather than clearly separate rooms. You also omit the replacement of the staff dining rooms and the new southern doors. Group the main additions and retained features, and describe their positions more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic before-and-after structure: the first paragraph describes the former café and the second describes the current layout. This gives the reader a general route through the information. However, progression within the paragraphs is uneven, and many details are presented as a list of short statements. Repeated transitions such as “With that,” “At the left side,” and “Opposite that” do not always show clear relationships; for example, “Opposite that” is difficult to interpret when referring to the toilets and recycling bins. The final sentence repeats the general idea of change rather than adding a useful comparison. Organise details by area or by what was retained, removed, and added, and use more precise linking and referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “serving area,” “staff dining room,” “recycling bin,” and “outdoor seating,” so the reader can recognise many features. However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate, sometimes making descriptions less clear. “Outdoor sitting” is less suitable for the designated seating area, while “big tables and chairs area” is vague. There are also spelling errors in “sald,” “cooffe,” and “seperate,” and “few changing” is not a natural expression. Aim for precise plan-description vocabulary and check spelling and collocations. For example, use “seating area” and “changes” rather than relying on broad or non-standard phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Most sentences use simple present or past forms, and the basic meaning is usually recoverable, but the range of sentence structures is limited. Errors occur frequently in agreement, articles, and sentence construction: “There is few changing” should use a plural noun and matching verb, and “there was a big tables and chairs area” has a number-agreement problem. Phrases such as “With kitchen there was” and “Inside of the right corner, there is toilets area” are also grammatically incomplete or awkward. Punctuation and spacing are inconsistent, as in “area.Opposite.” Practise accurate location sentences and combine related details with controlled clauses, checking singular and plural forms and articles.

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.