Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-31

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 given layouts illustrates, the key comparison between a college cafe developments before and after.

Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the overall layout of the cafe remain same as it was previous just replacing some areas to new facilities and some new things introduced such as outdoor seating, salad bar and Barbecue area.

As before the cafe was redesign there was serving area on top left corner with kitchen where all types of food and drinks served now it is converted into hot meal section. Also staff dining rooms were located in the center of plan now converted into take away food section and coffee bar. The location of tables and chairs, kitchen and toiltes remain unchanged.the size of bin also reduced in new plan.

Some new areas introduced in updated plans as outdoor seating on bottom of the layout ,barbecue and salad bar the barbeque located on left bottom corner of the plan whereas salad bar is situiated on far left side of the layout.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall change: the café keeps much of its basic layout while gaining facilities such as outdoor seating, a salad bar and a barbecue. You also accurately report the conversion of the former serving area to hot meals and the staff dining rooms to takeaway food and a coffee bar. However, some details are unclear or inaccurate: the staff dining rooms were along the north wall, not “in the center,” and the plans do not show that the bin’s size was reduced; it is relabelled as recycling bins. The account also omits notable changes such as the new southern doors and the outdoor tables. Selecting these features and describing their positions more precisely would make the summary more complete and developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the comparison, and phrases such as “As before” and “Also” help connect related information. However, progression is sometimes weakened by abrupt transitions and by grouping several changes into long, loosely connected sentences. The final paragraph repeats the introduction’s list of new facilities rather than developing a clear spatial comparison. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, as in “now it is converted,” where the reader must infer which area “it” refers to. Organising the details by location or by unchanged and changed features, with clearer links between sentences, would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “layout,” “converted,” “facilities,” and “located,” and the reader can generally understand the changes you describe. There is some attempt to use more specific terms, such as “far left side” and “bottom left corner.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward: “cafe developments” is not a natural way to describe the before-and-after plans, and “the barbecue located” lacks a suitable verb. Spelling errors such as “toiltes” and “situiated,” along with inconsistent forms such as “barbecue/barbeque,” also reduce control. Aim for precise plan-description phrases and check spelling and collocation during revision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast between the former and current uses of areas. However, grammatical control is uneven, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. For example, “The given layouts illustrates” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “the overall layout … remain same” has problems with agreement and article use. The sentence beginning “As before the cafe was redesign” also uses an incorrect verb form and has an unclear structure. Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly where sentences run together after “unchanged.” Practise accurate past and present forms for comparing plans, and check agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries when editing.

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