Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-04

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 maps show the changes that happened in college cafe after redesigning it.

Overall, the major changes are in outdoor seating earlier there was no outdoor seating.

Along with that Salad bar and brabecue is opened.Also now cafe is also catering the take away customers and the coffee bar is introduced.

The right side of newly designed cafe is mostly similar to old designed but bin is changes to recycling bins.Beside toilet there is new entraced opened. Moreover, major changes are take away food and coffee bar earlier those rooms are used to be the staff dining rooms.

Although, tables and chairs at center is same as earlier. But on left side of the cafe hot meals corner is opened earlier it used to be the serving area and kitchen remains at same place. Furthermore, a salad bar is made on the left side. Outside cafe outdoor seating is built in new design along with barbecue at the left corner.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall changes: outdoor seating and a barbecue were added, the former staff dining rooms became takeaway and coffee facilities, and the bin was replaced by recycling bins. You also correctly note that the kitchen, central tables and toilets remain in place. This covers the task well, with the overview and several relevant comparisons clearly grounded in the plans. Some details are less fully or precisely reported: the new entrance is on the southern wall and leads to the outdoor seating, rather than being beside the toilets, and the salad bar is along the western wall. You could also clarify that the old serving area is now labelled for hot meals. More precise location descriptions and fuller coverage of these changes would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has an opening, an overview and paragraphs describing changes, so the reader can identify the main topics. However, progression within the body is not consistently clear: the second paragraph moves from the eastern side to the toilets and then to the former staff rooms, while the final paragraph shifts between the centre, left side and outdoor area. Linking words such as “Moreover,” “Although” and “Furthermore” are used, but some do not express the relationship between the ideas accurately; “Although” begins a sentence without a complete contrast structure. Organise the details by area or by unchanged versus changed features, and use fewer, more precise transitions. This would make the overall arrangement easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “outdoor seating,” “recycling bins,” “staff dining rooms” and “serving area,” and the reader can generally understand the changes. However, several word choices and forms are inaccurate or awkward, such as “brabecue,” “entraced,” “is opened” and “right side of newly designed cafe.” These errors reduce precision, particularly when describing locations and facilities. Aim for standard plan-description collocations such as “was added,” “is located” and “on the western side,” and check spelling carefully. There is enough task-related vocabulary to communicate the main points, but more accurate and varied phrasing would make the account clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, for example, “Although, tables and chairs at center is same as earlier. But on left side…” However, the longer constructions are often faulty, and many sentences contain errors in articles, agreement, tense or sentence boundaries. Examples include “tables and chairs … is same,” “bin is changes,” and “earlier there was no outdoor seating,” which needs clearer punctuation and tense framing. The opening phrase “after redesigning it” also makes the cafe sound as if it performed the redesign. Use past tense for the former plan and present tense for the current one, and build contrasts into complete sentences. More reliable control of these basic patterns would improve accuracy while retaining sentence variety.

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