Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19

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 a floor plan of a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now. Before it was redesigned, the cafe had a Kitchen and Serving area, including all food and drinks, in the north-west direction of the floor plan. Then, the cafe also had staff dining rooms, tables and chairs situated in the middle of the cafe. To the east of the floor plan, the cafe had a bin, and to the left of it, there was a Toilets section.

However, the cafe has changed a lot now after getting redesigned. Like previously, there was a Serving area beside the kitchen, but now it has been converted to hot meals. A Salad bar has also been added to the west side of the cafe. The staff dining rooms have been converted into a Take-away food area and a Coffee bar.

The cafe today shows a new section in the southern part of it for Barbecue and Outdoor seating, while the bin has been converted into Recycling bins. The Toilets, tables and chairs are at the same place where they were before the cafe got redesigned.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign. Key modifications, such as the replacement of staff dining rooms with a take-away area and coffee bar, the addition of a salad bar, and the introduction of outdoor seating and a barbecue, are correctly identified. An overview is present, and comparisons are made effectively. However, there are minor inaccuracies in spatial referencing, such as describing the kitchen in the 'north-west direction' when it occupies the upper-left area, and stating that the toilets are to the left of the bin when the bin is actually on the east wall and toilets in the south-east corner. Overall, the response covers the visual data well, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is arranged coherently with a logical progression from the past layout to the current layout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, the initial layout, and the changes. Cohesive devices are employed to signal contrast and sequence, such as 'Before it was redesigned', 'However', and 'The cafe today shows'. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, such as 'to the left of it', which creates slight ambiguity in spatial tracking. Paragraph boundaries and logical links are generally clear, placing the performance comfortably within the Band 6.0 to 6.5 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing a floor plan, using appropriate terms such as 'redesigned', 'converted', 'situated', and 'section'. Less common lexical items are attempted, including 'converted into' and 'recycling bins'. There are occasional slight awkwardnesses in collocation and word choice, such as 'floor plan of a college cafe' rather than 'floor plans of a college cafe' and repeating the phrase 'before it was redesigned' multiple times. Spelling and word forms are generally accurate and do not impede communication, supporting a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases effectively (e.g., 'Before it was redesigned, the cafe had...'). There is good control over basic grammatical structures and tense shifting between the past simple (for the old plan) and the present perfect/simple (for the current layout). Grammatical errors are minor and infrequent, such as 'after getting redesigned' which is slightly informal. The majority of sentences are clear and error-free, warranting a Band 6.5.

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