Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-16

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 layout of a college cafe before it was designed and how it looks in present.

Overall, the cafe underwent a significant development with some new facilities added like barbecue, outdoor seating and salad bar and some exisisting facilities are replaced by new ones.

Initially, there was a kitchen on the north west corner and a serving area was located opposite to it. The centeral area of cafe was occupied by numerous tables and chairs. Moreover, there were two staff dining rooms in the north direction. A bin was placed on the right side for storage of waste and there were various toilets on the north east corner.

However, the kitchen, toilets, tables and chairs are remained untouched. The serving area is replaced by hot meals area and a salad bar is constructed at the west. The staff dining rooms are converted into coffee bar and a area where customers take food. In addition, outdoor seating is built on the south and a barbecue is added at the left.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all key features of the two plans, successfully identifying the major transformations, such as the addition of the outdoor seating, barbecue, salad bar, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a coffee bar and take-away area. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the main developments. However, there are a few minor location inaccuracies compared to the visual data; for example, the student states that the toilets are in the north-east corner and that a bin was placed on the right for storage of waste, whereas the reference shows the toilets in the bottom-right (south-east) corner and recycling bins replacing the old bin. Overall, the task is adequately addressed, with clear comparisons made between the past and present layouts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organised into four paragraphs: an introduction, an overview, a description of the past layout, and a description of the current layout. Cohesive devices such as 'Initially', 'However', and 'In addition' are used to structure the text and guide the reader through the comparisons. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different temporal stages. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as using 'a area' instead of 'an area', and the overall progression could be smoother with more varied transitional phrases. Cohesion is generally clear, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing changes, such as 'layout', 'development', 'facilities', and 'converted'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'untouched' and 'construction'. However, there are some noticeable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'how it looks in present' (instead of 'at present' or 'today') and spelling errors like 'exisisting' and 'centeral'. Furthermore, repetitive phrasing is present when describing locations. These lexical lapses constrain the score to Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over past and present tenses ('underwent', 'was located', 'remained untouched'). There are several successful complex structures used to contrast the two time periods. However, grammar and punctuation errors occur, such as article omission ('a area' instead of 'an area'), preposition misuse ('on the north west corner' instead of 'in the north-west corner'), and subject-verb agreement issues ('the kitchen, toilets, tables and chairs are remained untouched'). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.