Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 7.5 · 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 7.5)
The plans illustrate the changes made to a college café following its redesign.
Overall, the café has been modernised, with several new facilities added, while the kitchen, toilets and main seating area have remained in their original locations.
Before the redesign, the kitchen occupied the north-western corner and had a serving area for all food and drinks. Two staff dining rooms were located beside it. The remaining space consisted mainly of tables and chairs, with toilets and a bin situated in the south-eastern corner.
Today, the serving area has been replaced by a hot-meals section within the kitchen. The two staff dining rooms have been converted into a takeaway-food area and a coffee bar. In addition, a salad bar has been installed along the western wall, while the bin has been replaced by recycling bins. The toilets remain in the south-east, although their entrance has been altered. Finally, a barbecue and an outdoor seating area with several tables have been added outside the main café, providing considerably more dining options.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 7.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 7.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 7.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 7.5 |
| Overall | 7.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5
The student has successfully addressed all parts of the task by providing a clear summary of the changes shown in the two plans of the college cafe. A concise overview is given in the second paragraph, highlighting both the modernised features and what remained unchanged. The body paragraphs effectively report the key details, such as the conversion of the staff dining rooms into a takeaway-food area and a coffee bar, the addition of the salad bar, recycling bins, outdoor seating, and a barbecue. The information is fully supported by the visual data without any significant omissions or misinterpretations, satisfying the requirements for a high band score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5
The response is logically organised and easy to follow. The introduction clearly sets out the purpose of the text, followed by an overview paragraph. The body paragraphs are well-structured, moving logically from the past layout to the current layout. Cohesive devices such as 'Before the redesign', 'Today', 'In addition', and 'Finally' are used naturally and effectively to guide the reader through the temporal and spatial changes. Paragraphing is used appropriately, ensuring a smooth and logical progression of ideas throughout the entire essay.
Lexical Resource — Band 7.5
The student demonstrates a wide and flexible range of vocabulary suited to describing plans and spatial changes. Appropriate terminology is used, including phrases like 'modernised', 'occupied the north-western corner', 'converted into', 'installed along', and 'providing considerably more dining options'. Word choices are precise, and collocations are natural. There are no noticeable spelling or word-choice errors, reflecting a strong command of lexical resources that easily meets the criteria for Band 8.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5
A wide variety of grammatical structures is employed accurately throughout the response. The student successfully uses complex sentences involving relative clauses, participial phrases ('providing considerably more dining options'), and prepositional phrases of place and time. The majority of sentences are completely error-free, with excellent control over punctuation and verb tenses (shifting appropriately between the past simple for the old layout and the present perfect/simple for the current layout). Minor errors are absent.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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