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 plans illustrates a cafe how it looks before and after the modifications.

Overall, two main things implemented in the cafe that earlier were not part of it.One is outside seating arrangements and other is salad bar.

Earlier in cafe,there was kitchen with serving area where all kinds of food and drink available.Then there was a big hall where staff dining room was situated and toilets also.In hall there were two doors one is for entrance and other for exit while kitchen and dining rooms each have one door for entry and exit.

After the modification in the cafe, serving area is replaced by hot meals.Staff Dining rooms is divided into two rooms one for take away food and other for coffee bar.On the left side in the hall a salad bar is placed.A barbecue stall and outdoor seating are created for the people to make their eating more enjoyeful.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main change in the café’s use, noting the new outdoor seating and salad bar, and you compare the former serving area with the hot-meals counter. However, the overview is incomplete: it does not mention that the kitchen, central tables and toilets remain, or that recycling bins replace the single bin. Some details are also inaccurate or unclear. The staff dining rooms were replaced by takeaway and coffee-bar sections, rather than divided into those uses, and the plan shows two entrance doors, not separate entrance and exit doors. The barbecue is mentioned, but its location and the new southern access doors are omitted. Select the key changes and unchanged features more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to the former and current layouts. This gives the reader a general sense of the comparison. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and linking is limited: “Then” and “After the modification” do most of the work. The description of the earlier layout combines several features without clearly locating them, while the final paragraph moves from the north-side rooms to the salad bar and then outdoors without a consistent route through the plan. Use clearer spatial sequencing, such as describing the north, west, centre and south in turn, and connect each change explicitly to its former position.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “serving area,” “hot meals,” “take away food,” “coffee bar” and “outdoor seating.” This range is sufficient to communicate the main subject, but several choices are imprecise or unnatural, such as “two main things implemented,” “big hall,” and “make their eating more enjoyeful.” “Staff Dining rooms is divided” also reflects an inaccurate description of the change, though the agreement issue belongs under grammar. Aim for precise plan-description language: for example, say that facilities were “added,” “replaced” or “retained,” and use “central seating area” rather than “big hall.” Check spelling and natural collocations before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including “After the modification in the cafe, serving area is replaced by hot meals.” However, errors in sentence structure and grammatical forms are frequent enough to make some relationships difficult to follow. For example, “The plans illustrates” has subject–verb disagreement, and “Staff Dining rooms is divided” has incorrect agreement and tense. Articles and sentence boundaries are also inconsistent: “there was kitchen” needs an article, and “One is outside seating arrangements and other is salad bar” needs clearer parallel structure and punctuation. Practise accurate past and present passive forms for describing changes, and check agreement, articles and commas in each sentence.

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