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.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The plan shows development of a college cafe befoe and after its's renovation

Overall,the cafe has delevloped because addition of various facilities the area was relatively smaller now it has extended specially by the adition of more sitting areas and cooking place.

To start with , the most noticable point is redesign of staff dining rooms into take away and coffe bar, also servinf area where ere all food and drink was served now hot is served.There is no change inside table and chairs design but a salad bar is now added at left corner.To imporve waste management, college cafe started recycling wastes by adding recyclying bins,but remember there was only one basic bin before its're design .

Moving to further details two new exists will take customers towards barbecue area and plenty of outdoor sitting .

Having said that 5 outdoor tables were added three having 6 seats and rest with 4 seats.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the conversion of the staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee areas, the new salad bar, recycling bins, and outdoor seating. The overview also recognises that the café has gained facilities. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the plan shows four outdoor tables, not five, and the new southern doors lead to outdoor seating rather than directly to the barbecue. The barbecue is outside to the south-west. The claim that the café has become larger is not clearly supported by the plans, and the unchanged toilets and central seating area could have been included to make the comparison more complete. Overall, the main changes are covered, but some are reported less fully or precisely than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs describing changes inside and outside the café. Phrases such as “To start with” and “Moving to further details” help signal progression. However, the organisation is not always clear because several changes are compressed into long sentences, and the final paragraph introduces the outdoor features abruptly. Some linking expressions are awkward or do not show the relationship between ideas clearly, as in “Having said that” before the table details. Grouping the internal changes together and then describing the southern extension in a separate, clearly developed paragraph would improve the flow. Check punctuation after introductory phrases and avoid unnecessary spaces before commas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “redesign,” “facilities,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating.” These choices show an attempt to use task-specific language. However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural phrases are noticeable, for example “delevloped,” “coffe bar,” “servinf area,” and “plenty of outdoor sitting.” “Cooking place” is also vague for the kitchen, while “sitting areas” is less suitable than “seating areas.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the general comparison, but they reduce precision and fluency. Aim to use accurate labels from the plan and check spelling carefully, especially for key features.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison with “where” and a purpose clause beginning “To improve waste management.” However, grammatical control is uneven, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “Overall,the cafe has delevloped because addition of various facilities” is missing a grammatical link, and “now hot is served” has an unclear structure. There are also problems with articles, possessives, and sentence boundaries, as in “before its're design.” The sentence beginning “Having said that” is not well connected to the previous point. Build shorter, complete sentences first, then add subordinate clauses with accurate verb forms and punctuation.

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