Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-28

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 layout illustrates the plan of a college cafe before and after it was redesigned.

Overall, the cafe underwent significant changes, with outdoor seating being introduced, in addition to various customer stalls, while indoor seating remained unchanged. Looking first at the northern part of the area, the serving area was converted into a hot meals section, while staff dining rooms were replaced by a take away food and coffee bar. In the western part of the cafe, a salad bar was added, whereas a bin was transformed into a recycling bin.

Turning to the southern part of the area, the arrangement was further expanded outdoors. In addition to the previous tables and chairs setup, additional outdoor seating was introduced. The barbecue setup was also added near the seating arrangement. On the other hand, the toilet remained in the same place as it was before.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully covers the main changes in the college cafe, noting the modifications in the northern, western, and southern sections, such as the introduction of outdoor seating, a salad bar, and a barbecue. An overview is provided in the second sentence. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum requirement, containing only 144 words. This under-length limitation directly impacts Task Achievement, preventing the response from achieving a higher band score, as some features like the internal seating remaining unchanged are slightly glossed over or generalised.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the introduction to the northern and western sections, and finally to the southern part of the cafe. Cohesive devices are used effectively to guide the reader through the spatial changes, for example, 'Looking first at the northern part', 'In the western part', and 'Turning to the southern part'. Paragraphing is logical, and referencing ('the arrangement', 'the same place') is generally clear and appropriate throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an academic task, incorporating descriptive terms such as 'underwent significant changes', 'converted into', and 'transformed'. Less common items are attempted with reasonable success, though there are minor inaccuracies in collocation or phrasing, such as referring to 'customer stalls' when describing food counters like the take away food and coffee bar. Spelling is accurate, and vocabulary choice does not impede communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is used throughout the response, such as subordinate clauses ('while staff dining rooms were replaced by...') and participial phrases ('in addition to various customer stalls'). Grammatical accuracy is generally good, with the majority of sentences being free of major errors. Punctuation is handled correctly. While the range of structures is somewhat restricted compared to higher bands, the grammatical control displayed is solid and reliable.

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

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