Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-30

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 diagram illustrates the renovation of students college cafe.

Overall, the building undergone signifiacnt development. The serving area have been changed into hot meals while kitchen remains same. The staf dinning rooms has been replaced by takeaway and cafe followed by bin has been converted into recycling bins while table and chairs, toilets remains there and outdoor seating with barbecue has been added.

Before renovation, Kitchen were at top left corner with serving area in which all food and drink items had served. The entrance were top right corner and exit door were also there while entering there were way which gone directly into staff dinning rooms. The table and chairs had a large area on the either side of Bin. Toilets were at bottom of the layout

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main change from a general serving area to hot meals and note that the kitchen, toilets and central tables remain, while recycling bins and outdoor seating with a barbecue are added. However, the report is incomplete: it describes the earlier layout in more detail than the current one and omits key changes such as the salad bar and the two new southern doors. Some details are unclear or inaccurate, including the claim that the entrance and exit were separate and that a route led directly into the staff dining rooms. The response is also 22 words below the required minimum, which limits the detail available. A fuller comparison of both plans would make the overview and selected features more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure, with an overview followed by a paragraph about the original café, and it uses a few linking expressions such as “while” and “before renovation.” This gives the reader a general sense of the comparison. However, the progression is limited because the second paragraph does not describe the café today, despite this being half of the task. The overview also packs many changes into one long sentence, making relationships between features difficult to follow. For example, “followed by bin has been converted” is unclear, and the final description of the original layout moves between the entrance, seating and toilets without a clear spatial sequence. Organise the details by plan or by areas of change, and use clearer links.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “serving area,” “kitchen,” “recycling bins,” “toilets” and “outdoor seating.” These terms help communicate several important features. However, the range is limited, and some word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “building undergone significant development,” “there were way,” and “items had served.” Spelling errors in “signifiacnt,” “staf” and “dinning” also reduce accuracy. Try using precise plan-description language such as “was converted into,” “was replaced by,” “remained unchanged” and “was located in the north-east corner.” This would make comparisons more natural and help you describe the current layout with greater precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both an overview and longer sentences using contrast, as in “while kitchen remains same,” but grammatical control is inconsistent. Errors in tense, agreement and articles occur frequently: “the building undergone” needs a past-tense form, “the serving area have been changed” has incorrect agreement, and “the staff dining rooms has been replaced” mismatches the plural subject and verb. The final paragraph also contains faulty sentence patterns, including “The entrance were top right corner” and “there were way which gone directly.” These errors sometimes make the intended relationships difficult to understand. Practise accurate past passive forms for changes and use complete location sentences, for example, “The staff dining rooms were replaced by a takeaway area and a café.”

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