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)

INTRODUCTION:

This plan campares two cafe maps one is today cafe and one before redesign.

Overview:

Overall, the most noticeable changes that extand the area today many changes bring today but the place of toilet and kitchen is same.

Paragraph 1

Firstly, serving area that contain all food and drink replace by hot meals. Similarly, staff dining rooms covert into both parts one is food taken away and other is coffee bar. On the other hand, the kitchen and the toilet area have seen no alternative and both stay on their formar location.

Paragraph 2

Additionally, the place tables and chairs have also no changes but build a salad bar to the right side in the corner of hotel. While bin was changed by recycling bin and added two more entrance one near the toilet and another to opposite side as down the bar and extend the area out side of entrance as well as create a Barbecue on this place. Moreover, kept more seats on the patio.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall pattern: the café has gained new food and drink facilities and outdoor seating, while the kitchen and toilets remain in place. You also report several relevant changes, including the conversion of the staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee areas and the replacement of the bin with recycling bins. Some details, however, are unclear or inaccurate. The salad bar is described as being “to the right side in the corner of hotel,” whereas it is along the western wall; the new doors lead to outdoor seating, not one near the toilets. The overview’s claim that the area has been extended is also vague. To strengthen the report, describe the new southern outdoor area and barbecue precisely, and compare the layout’s main changes more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, overview and two detail paragraphs, and the changes are generally grouped by topic. This gives the reader a basic route through the comparison. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in the second detail paragraph, where the salad bar, bins, doors, outdoor area and seating are joined in a long sequence. Connectors such as “Similarly,” “On the other hand,” and “Moreover” do not always show the exact relationship between the features. Some references, including “this place” and “another,” are unclear. Use shorter, clearly ordered sentences and refer directly to locations—for example, explain the western wall changes before moving to the southern outdoor area.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “serving area,” “hot meals,” “coffee bar,” “recycling bin,” “patio” and “Barbecue.” This shows an adequate range for the task, and the reader can usually identify the intended features. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “the place of toilet,” “no alternative,” “food taken away” and “extend the area out side of entrance.” Spelling errors such as “campares,” “extand” and “formar” also reduce precision. Aim for standard map-description phrases and accurate labels: for example, “the toilets remain in the same location” and “an outdoor seating area was added.” Check spelling and use the plan’s labels where possible.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a comparison with “while” and a sentence beginning “Overall,” which helps convey the main changes. However, grammatical errors occur across the response and sometimes make relationships between features hard to interpret. Examples include “This plan campares two cafe maps one is today cafe,” which lacks clear sentence boundaries, and “the place tables and chairs have also no changes,” where the verb pattern is incorrect. Articles and prepositions are also often missing or misplaced, as in “build a salad bar to the right side.” Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use consistent past-tense forms for changes, such as “was replaced” and “were added.” Punctuation would also help separate the final sequence of changes.

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