Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-07

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 a college cafe before , and after it was redesigned.

The old design consist of a main building and a secondary building connected to it on its north-eastern side. The main building had tables and chairs, staff dining rooms and toilets while the secondary building consist of a kitchen and serving area.

After redesigning there are no newly constructed or demolished buildings but the layouts of the buildings were slightly changed. In the main building while the area consisting of tables and chairs was not changed the staff dining rooms were transformed into 2 sections, take away food and a coffee bar. The serving area in the secondary building is converted into hot meals section. A salad bar is also located on the eastern end of the main building. A new out door seating is also introduced on the south of the main building while a barbecue area

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the cafe redesign, identifying key changes such as the conversion of the staff dining rooms and the addition of new facilities like the coffee bar and salad bar. However, the report is incomplete; the final sentence is cut off mid-thought ('while a barbecue area'), which prevents a full summary of the current layout. While the overview is present, the lack of a complete conclusion or final sentence impacts the overall task completion. To reach a higher band, ensure all described features are fully articulated and the response is proofread to avoid incomplete sentences.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, moving from the original layout to the redesigned one. The use of cohesive devices is generally functional, such as 'After redesigning' and 'In the main building'. However, the flow is disrupted by the incomplete final sentence, which leaves the reader without a sense of closure. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods, but the overall progression is slightly hampered by the abrupt ending. Improving the transition between the description of the main building and the secondary building would further enhance the coherence of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with terms like 'redesigned', 'demolished', 'transformed', and 'converted' demonstrating a sufficient range to describe the changes. There are no significant spelling errors, and the terminology is relevant to the topic of floor plans. However, the range is somewhat limited and relies on fairly standard descriptors. To improve, you could incorporate more precise collocations or varied synonyms for spatial descriptions, such as 'reconfigured', 'relocated', or 'integrated', to demonstrate a more sophisticated command of the language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical inconsistencies, such as 'The old design consist' (should be 'consisted') and 'the secondary building consist' (should be 'consisted'), indicating issues with subject-verb agreement and tense consistency. Additionally, the final sentence is a fragment, which is a significant error in grammatical structure. While the meaning remains clear for the most part, these recurring errors and the incomplete sentence structure prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on consistent verb tenses and ensuring all sentences are complete will improve your score.

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

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