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 layout illustrates how a university cafe is redesigned now and how it looks before. Overall, the new layout holds more seating capacity. Serving area is divided and buid a seperate counter for varieties of cuisines. Kitchen, bin and toilets remaind almost same.

Cafe before redesign, all food varieties and drink, with kitchen are included in one counter which it located at top left corner while the staff dining rooms placed directly infront of entrance, tables and chairs arranged just below it.

Bin and toilets allocated at bottom left of entrance.

The cafe has undergone several developments. The food and drinks counter is reduced to single variety food item and introduced seperate section for different food items such as salad bar which is allocated at just under the hot meals section. the staff dining rooms are replaced and renovated to food take away and coffe bar counter. Barbeque has constructed outside the cafe with outdoor seating

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main change from a single serving counter to several food and drink facilities, and you note that the staff dining rooms became a takeaway section and coffee bar. The overview also recognises that the kitchen and toilets remained, which helps address the comparison. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the staff rooms were along the north wall, not “directly in front of” the entrance, and the bin and toilets were on the eastern side, with the toilets in the bottom-right corner. The claim that seating capacity increased is not clearly supported by the plan, and important changes such as the new southern doors and outdoor tables are only partly covered. Select and describe these features more precisely to make the comparison fuller.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable progression: an opening overview, a description of the former café, and then a paragraph about the redesign. This makes the broad comparison easy to follow. Linking phrases such as “Overall” and “The cafe has undergone several developments” also signal the stages of the description. However, the first paragraph combines several changes in a way that is difficult to interpret, and the final paragraph moves quickly between the counter, salad bar, former staff rooms and outdoor area. Some references, including “it” in “which it located,” are unclear. Organise the details by location or by old-to-new changes, and use clearer links between related features so the progression feels more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “layout,” “counter,” “allocated,” “replaced” and “outdoor seating.” These choices show an adequate range for the task, and the reader can generally understand the intended changes. However, several word choices and collocations are imprecise, such as “single variety food item” for the hot-meals counter and “renovated to food take away,” which do not clearly describe the new facilities. There are also spelling errors in “buid,” “seperate,” “remaind” and “coffe,” alongside inconsistent spelling of “cafe/café.” Use the labels shown on the plan where possible and check spelling and natural combinations of words to improve precision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, grammatical control is uneven, with errors in verb forms, sentence construction, articles and prepositions. For example, “Kitchen, bin and toilets remaind almost same” needs articles and a complete verb phrase, while “which it located at top left corner” has an incorrect relative clause and missing article. The sentence beginning “Cafe before redesign, all food varieties…” is also a fragment, and “Barbeque has constructed” needs a passive form such as “A barbecue was constructed.” Practise building complete sentences around each feature, checking tense and articles, and using a mix of accurate simple and complex structures.

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