Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-03

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)

Given maps gives us data about the college cafe which is redesigned recently which many changes.

Before redesigning the cafe building has a quite decent area which has been occupied by kitchen and a serving area. It also had two rooms for the staff dining on the front of enterence. Left to enterence there was a single toilet beside with a distance there was a bin and if we go straight to that there was a huge hall for indoor siting with tables and chairs.

But now the cafe is redesigned where the staff dining rooms are now converted into a coffee bar and a take away food. On the front wall the salad bar is also added moreover the bin is now replaced with the recycling bin.

The more area is added to the south of cafe which is now use for outdoor sitting and a new point for barbecue is also added there.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a coffee bar and takeaway area, the addition of a salad bar, recycling bins, outdoor seating and a barbecue. These details are relevant and broadly match the plans. However, the response does not give a clear overall summary of the main transformation, and some descriptions are inaccurate or unclear: the toilets were not “left to” the entrance, but remained in the bottom-right corner, while the entrance was on the upper-right wall. You also omit notable features such as the hot-meals counter and the new doors to the outdoor area. A more precise overview and fuller comparison of the unchanged and altered areas would make the report more complete and clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a generally understandable order: it first describes the former café, then moves to the current layout. Paragraphing also separates the two stages, and linking expressions such as “But now” and “moreover” help signal change. However, some connections are awkward or unclear, particularly “Left to enterence there was a single toilet beside with a distance there was a bin” and “if we go straight to that.” These make it difficult to follow the locations being described. The final paragraph introduces the outdoor area logically, but the report would progress more clearly if each paragraph grouped features by location or type of change, with more precise references instead of conversational directions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing plans, including “converted,” “replaced,” “indoor,” “outdoor” and “barbecue.” This gives you an adequate range for communicating the main changes. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or informal, such as “front of enterence,” “a huge hall,” “siting,” and “a new point for barbecue.” Spelling errors in “enterence” and “cafe” also reduce accuracy. Aim for standard plan-description phrases such as “near the entrance,” “main seating area” and “barbecue area.” More precise vocabulary would help distinguish the café’s facilities and locations without relying on vague terms such as “front” or “point.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, for example, “But now the cafe is redesigned where the staff dining rooms are now converted…” However, control is uneven, and several errors make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. The opening, “Given maps gives us data,” has problems with subject–verb agreement and sentence construction. Verb forms and tense are also inconsistent: “which is now use” should use a passive form, and the description shifts between past and present without a clear pattern. Articles and sentence boundaries need attention as well, particularly in “there was a single toilet beside with a distance there was a bin.” Practise accurate past-tense descriptions of the former plan and present-tense descriptions of the current one.

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