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 plan shows a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. There are a lot of changes happened in the cafe. This redevelopment can make the students to easily access the college cafe.

There have been a lot of infrastucture development made. They also added outdoor seating for the studdent to enjoy the outside environment while chatting with their friends. The staff dining room has been converted to take away food counter and coffee bar. So the cafe that is redeveloped contains a kitchen, hot meals, a take away food counter, coffee bar, recycling bin, toilets, salad bar, barbecue, outdoor seating and in between the hall, tables nad chairs are arranged. But the old model contains only a kitchen, serving area where all food and drinlks are served, two staff dining rooms, bin and toilet and tables and chairs were arranged in the middle of all the facilities.

The serving area has been redeveloped into hot meals counter where only meals is served. Additional to that, a salad bar has been developed near the hot meals counter. Other than this a barbecue counter is opened outside the cafe and to access this outdoor seating arrangements are made. They have removed staff dining rooms and made every person from students to staffs to sit together to improve their harmonial relationship.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main redesign and make relevant comparisons: the former staff dining rooms become takeaway and coffee facilities, the serving area changes to hot meals, and new outdoor seating and a barbecue are introduced. You also note the salad bar and the continuing central tables and chairs. This gives the response a clear overview of the principal changes. Some details are less fully or precisely reported: for example, the recycling bins replace the old bin, and the toilets remain in the same corner, but these changes are not clearly compared. The claim that the redesign lets students access the café more easily and improves relationships is not shown by the plans. To strengthen the response, prioritise observable changes and describe the layout more precisely, rather than adding unsupported explanations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction to a general description and then to further details about the redesign. Linking phrases such as “Other than this” and “Additional to that” help signal additions, and the comparison between the old and new facilities is generally understandable. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the second and third paragraphs repeat the changes to the serving area, staff rooms and outdoor seating, while the long inventory beginning “So the cafe that is redeveloped contains…” makes several features difficult to follow. Some links also express cause or purpose that the plans do not establish. Grouping the information into a concise overview followed by indoor changes and then outdoor changes would reduce repetition and make the organisation easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “redeveloped,” “converted,” “outdoor seating,” “serving area” and “recycling bin,” so the reader can identify most features. There is some variety in how you describe changes, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “infrastructure development made,” “barbecue counter is opened,” and “harmonial relationship.” Spelling slips—including “infrastucture,” “studdent,” “nad” and “drinlks”—also reduce precision. The repeated use of “a lot of changes” and “developed” limits the range. Aim for concise, conventional map-description language, such as “the café was renovated,” “a barbecue area was added,” and “the former staff rooms were replaced by…”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the relative clause in “where all food and drinks are served” and the purpose clause “to improve their… relationship.” The main changes are usually understandable, but errors in sentence construction and agreement are frequent enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “There are a lot of changes happened” combines incompatible structures; use “A lot of changes have taken place.” In “made the students to easily access,” the verb pattern is incorrect, and “only meals is served” has a subject–verb agreement error. The long sentence beginning “So the cafe…” also lacks clear grammatical control. Practise accurate verb patterns, agreement and sentence boundaries, while keeping complex sentences manageable.

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