Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 diagram illustrates the blueprint of a college cafe before it was renovated and its improvements now.

Overall, the area underwent substantial transformations, although there are areas that remained from the past to the improved plan. Moreover, there are several new rooms such as salad bar, barbeque space, outdoor seating, whereas there are changes with certain improvements with staff dining rooms and serving area.

Looking first at the persisted areas namely kitchen, bin, toilets and tables and chairs, these spaces are allotted the same as before. However, the cafe's plan was expanded to include newly constructed rooms such as salad bar, barbeque, and outdoor seating which increased more numbers of customers.

Turning to the modified spaces, from serving area of all food and drinks, it became room for hot meals. Meanwhile, the staff dining rooms shifted to take away food area and coffee bar. It clearly shows that the cafe improved significantly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting both transformations and retained areas. Key features such as the kitchen, toilets, new salad bar, barbeque space, and outdoor seating are mentioned, and comparisons are made between the old layout and the current one (e.g., 'staff dining rooms shifted to take away food area and coffee bar'). However, some details are slightly vague or generalized, such as 'which increased more numbers of customers,' which is an assumption rather than a direct report of visual data. Overall, the task is addressed competently, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or solid Band 6.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is arranged logically with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs focusing on persisted areas and modified spaces respectively. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the plans, such as 'Overall,' 'Looking first at,' and 'Turning to the modified spaces.' However, referencing and cohesion can feel slightly mechanical at times, and paragraph transitions could be smoother. For instance, the phrase 'whereas there are changes with certain improvements with staff dining rooms' is slightly awkward. Paragraphing is utilized appropriately to separate distinct aspects of the visual data. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to architectural changes and layout features such as 'blueprint,' 'renovated,' 'persisted areas,' and 'modified spaces.' There are some lexical inaccuracies and slightly unnatural collocations, such as 'increased more numbers of customers' instead of 'increased the capacity for customers' or 'accommodated more customers.' Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary choices do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions easily. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 6 lexical resource.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures such as 'although there are areas that remained' and 'whereas there are changes.' There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings present, such as 'improvements now,' 'persisted areas namely kitchen,' and 'from serving area of all food and drinks, it became room for hot meals.' Despite these errors in prepositions, articles, and word forms, the meaning remains mostly clear and does not severely impede communication. The control of grammar is consistent with a Band 6 level.

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

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