Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-25

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 layouts illustrate a college cafe before to it was development and how it has changed at present.

Overall, the main difference is that several facilities have been added and they are a hot meals section, take away food area, coffee bar, salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating.

Before development, a kitchen was located on the top-left corner with a serving area (all food & drink) to below it. Tables and chairs were placed on the center and staff dining rooms were its north. Toilets were constructed on the bottom-right corner. Also, a bin where people can throw waste was introduced on the right corner.

Currently, although the main structure remains the same, outdoor seating where people can seat has been constructed. Hot meals replace the serving area. Staff dining rooms have been replaced by take away a food and coffee bar section. A salad bar site has been installed in the left corner. A barbecue area has been built on the left side of outdoor seatings. Recycling bins have been introduced on the right side.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The candidate successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign. An effective overview is provided in the second paragraph, outlining the primary modifications such as the addition of the hot meals section, take-away food area, coffee bar, salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating. Key spatial relationships and changes are accurately reported, such as the replacement of staff dining rooms with the take-away area and coffee bar, and the addition of recycling bins and outdoor seating. The response is fully grounded in the provided visual data without significant omissions.

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. There is a clear overall progression from past to present. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Before development' and 'Currently', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different temporal phases of the cafe's layout. Referencing is generally clear, aiding the overall readability of the report.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully capturing architectural and layout features such as 'redesigned', 'structure', 'facilities', and 'installed'. However, there are some awkward word choices and prepositional slips, such as 'before to it was development' instead of 'before its development', and 'take away a food' which contains an unnecessary article and preposition. Less common lexical items are attempted with mixed success, placing the response firmly in the Band 6.0 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The candidate demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. There are successful complex structures, such as '...although the main structure remains the same, outdoor seating where people can seat has been constructed.' However, grammatical errors occur regularly, including tense and preposition confusion ('before to it was development', 'placed on the center', 'on its north'), and a word-form error ('outdoor seatings' instead of 'outdoor seating'). These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

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

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