Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-12
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 maps illustrate compares the changes in the college cafe after being redesigned.
Overall, the college cafeteria has improved with separate serving areas for different types of food and refreshments and extended the cafe with outdoor barbecue .The structure has not changed much even after the redesign.
Before redesign, the cafe had only one serving area, which is now divided into four different food and drink areas including hot meals at the place of serving area, salad bar which is in front of hot meals, a coffee bar, and a barbecue. The barbecue is outside the cafe in an open area. Secondly, the staff dining room is demolished and replaced with a takeaway food and coffee bar. Thirdly, an outdoor seating area is introduced with more tables and chairs, right beside the barbecue, while the old indoor seating remains the same. The bins inside the cafe are now replaced with recycling bins.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully addresses the main features of the task by comparing the two maps of the college cafe before and after its redesign. An overview is provided, highlighting the main changes such as the separation of serving areas and the addition of an outdoor barbecue and seating area. Key details are reported, including the transformation of the single serving area into four distinct sections and the replacement of the staff dining room. However, there are minor inaccuracies in the description of spatial relationships, such as placing the salad bar 'in front of hot meals', which is not clearly supported by visual conventions. Nevertheless, the response covers all parts of the prompt well.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is arranged logically with an introductory paragraph, an overview paragraph, and a detailed body paragraph. Cohesive devices are used to sequence information, such as 'Before redesign', 'Secondly', and 'Thirdly'. However, paragraphing is somewhat unbalanced, with the second body paragraph containing a large block of information that could have been better chunked. Additionally, referencing is occasionally repetitive, and logical progression within the detailed body paragraph could be smoother. Overall, the arrangement is coherent, earning a solid band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, demonstrating attempts at less common items such as 'demolished', 'extended', and 'recycling bins'. However, there are notable lexical and collocation errors, such as 'at the place of serving area' and 'Before redesign' (missing the article 'the'). Word choice is at times simplistic, relying on terms like 'improved' and 'changed much'. While these minor errors and limitations do not impede communication, they place the lexical control firmly at the band 6.0 level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses ('which is now divided') and prepositional phrases. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text. Notable errors include the opening verb mismatch ('illustrates compares'), missing articles ('Before redesign', 'staff dining room'), and tense inconsistency ('which is now divided' following past tense descriptions). While these errors do not severely impede overall comprehension, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band score due to a lack of consistent control over complex structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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