Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-14

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 6.5)

The given picture illustrates the information about a college cafe that how it was looking in the past before redesigning and in the present picture of the cafe.

Overall, it can be clearly witnessed that the number of changes made in order to give modern outlook to a cafe. However, some of the facilities remained intact .

To begin with, in past there was a serving area in the northwest side for all food and drinks, which is converted into hot meals. Apart from it, in the centre staff dining rooms are replaced with two new facilities called take away food and coffee bar. In addition to this, in the west side of a cafe salad bar is introduced before this area was empty .

Moving towards the rest of the information, just adjacent to salad bar a new amenity is launched as a barbeque; furthermore, there was a bin in east side in the cafe and now the area is increased along with more bins. In addition to this, in the south side vacant place is now converted into outdoor seating by providing tables and chairs. Finally, the facilities such as kitchen, tables and chairs as well toilets remained unchanged.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key features of the cafe redesign, including the new facilities and the areas that remained unchanged. The overview is clear and identifies the main trend of modernization. However, the description of the layout is slightly confusing in places; for example, referring to the 'northwest side' for the serving area is not clearly supported by the visual, and the spatial relationships could be more precise. While the main features are reported, the comparison between the 'before' and 'after' states could be more analytical rather than just listing changes. Overall, it provides a sufficient summary of the information provided in the diagrams.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Moving towards', and 'In addition to this' are used to guide the reader through the information. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally repetitive. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different areas of the cafe. The flow of information is generally clear, though some sentences are slightly disjointed due to minor grammatical issues that affect the overall cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, with terms like 'modern outlook', 'facilities', 'amenity', and 'vacant place' used correctly. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'the number of changes made in order to give modern outlook to a cafe', which lacks an article. The range of vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning, but it lacks the sophistication or precision required for a higher band. The student relies on basic descriptive language rather than more precise terminology related to architectural or layout changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'the given picture illustrates the information about a college cafe that how it was looking' (redundant 'that') and 'in past there was' (missing article). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but there are some awkward phrasings that hinder the natural flow of the text. While the errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. The control over articles and prepositions needs improvement to achieve greater accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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