Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-27

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 illustration , displays the reconstuction of college cafe .

Over all , the cafe underwent significant redevelopment . The staff dining room and central table hasdeminished . Nobtabely outdoor seating hasintoduces along with barbecue section .

To begin with before the cafe design was ,walking from the entrance there was a bin on the left side and toilets located infront of it on the other hand , straightly walking from the entrance there was two different staff dining room decorated with round tables and chairs . Beside this there was a huge room seperated into two section kitchen and servicing area .

On the other hand ,now the cafe has been gone through more changes . The bin become recyclling bin but position of the bin and toilet remain same . The staff dining room replaced to take away food and coffee bar . brbecue section has newly started with out door area .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change—the conversion of the staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee facilities—and note the new outdoor seating and barbecue. You also correctly report that the bin became recycling bins and that the toilets stayed in the same position. These points give the response a relevant overview. However, several important features are omitted or unclear: the new salad bar, the hot-meals counter, and the two new doors to the outdoor area are not described. The account of the original layout is also difficult to follow, particularly the claim that the bin was to the left when walking from the entrance. To strengthen the summary, describe the main areas and their positions more precisely, and compare the unchanged central seating and kitchen with the additions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening, an overview, a description of the original café, and a comparison with its current layout. Phrases such as “To begin with” and “On the other hand” help signal the shift between the two plans. However, some connections are mechanical or do not express the relationship clearly. For example, “on the other hand” introduces the current plan, but the contrast is not developed, while “Beside this” leaves the relationship between the kitchen and serving area vague. The long sentence beginning “To begin with before the cafe design was” combines several locations and is hard to follow. Use clearer location-based sequencing and separate the original and current features into more controlled sentences.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “staff dining room,” “replaced,” “recycling bin,” “toilets,” and “outdoor seating.” This gives you a basic range for reporting changes. However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “reconstuction,” “deminished,” “Nobtabely,” “servicing area,” and “brbecue.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise: “walking from the entrance” and “gone through more changes” do not describe the layout as clearly as standard map language would. Build a bank of accurate terms such as “located,” “along the western wall,” and “was converted into,” and check spelling carefully so readers can identify each feature without effort.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a comparison introduced by “but” and a longer description using “on the other hand.” The main changes are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors make relationships and timing unclear. For example, “The staff dining room and central table has deminished” has a subject–verb agreement problem and an unclear verb form; “the staff dining room replaced to take away food and coffee bar” needs a passive construction, such as “was replaced by.” There are also errors with articles, plurals, and sentence boundaries, as in “there was two different staff dining room.” Aim for accurate past-tense descriptions of the former plan and present-tense descriptions of the current one, using shorter sentences where needed.

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.