Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-18

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 6.0)

The plans illustrate the design of the university café before and after it was redesigned.

Overall, the new plan includes some changes such as serving area converted into hot meals, staff dining rooms are now segregated into take away food and coffee bar area. Lastly, there are new facilities available in the café like a salad bar and a outdoor seating plan along with access to barbeque.

In detail, the previous plan with serving area opposite to the kitchen has now become a hot meal place. Furthermore, the workers dining rooms have now been separated into two: one which provides service of take away food and the other one is a coffee bar area.

In the café today plan, to extreme west, is a salad bar serving salad. In the middle, there are tables and chairs. Toilets are located in the South-East, and recycling bin to the east. Finally, there is an addition made to the bottom consisting of a barbeque to the South-West, and an outdoor seating area.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the cafe redesign well. You successfully identified the key changes, such as the conversion of the serving area, the division of the staff dining rooms, and the addition of new facilities like the salad bar and outdoor seating. However, the overview could be more analytical; rather than just listing changes, you could highlight the overall transformation of the space from a more functional layout to one that incorporates leisure and outdoor elements. The description of the layout is generally accurate, though some details, such as the specific location of the recycling bin, are minor and could be omitted in favour of a more cohesive summary of the structural changes.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organised into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In detail', and 'Finally' to guide the reader. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes a bit mechanical. For instance, the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be smoother. Additionally, the referencing is occasionally slightly unclear, such as in the phrase 'In the café today plan', which feels a bit clunky. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear thematic focus would help elevate the coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'segregated', 'converted', and 'facilities'. However, there are some instances of slightly unnatural word choice or phrasing, such as 'hot meal place' instead of 'hot meal service area' or 'to extreme west' instead of 'to the far west'. There is also some repetition of basic words like 'area' and 'plan'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise descriptive language and avoid repeating the same nouns. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly, but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'staff dining rooms are now segregated' should be 'the staff dining rooms have been segregated', and 'to extreme west' is missing an article ('to the extreme west'). There are also minor punctuation and preposition errors, such as 'access to barbeque' (should be 'a barbecue'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles would significantly improve the accuracy of your writing.

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

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