Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-01

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 6.5)

The image shown illustrates the transformation of a cafe.

It is clear from the picture that some major improvements changed and ordinary dining space to a moden restaurant. New amenities were introduced and some old facilities were replaced or eliminated.

At first, the cafe had a kitchen along with a dedicated area where all food and drinks were served. Toilets were built in a corner and a garbage chute was installed at a side. There was also a separate space where staff members could had their meal. A major portion was for students chairs and tables.

After the renovation, many amendments have been made. Staff food area has been replaced with a coffee bar and a section where take away orders are served. A salad bar has been opened on the left side of the main dining hall and garbage area has been enlarged. Toilets are still at the same place. A major innovation is outdoor dining area that also serves barbecue.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by summarizing the main features and making clear comparisons between the past and present layouts of the college cafe. A clear overview is presented in the second paragraph, highlighting that major improvements transformed an ordinary dining space into a modern restaurant with new amenities. Key features such as the kitchen, serving counter, staff dining area, toilets, and seating are all covered. However, some areas are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies; for instance, the text refers to a 'garbage chute' instead of a bin, and the outdoor seating addition lacks a bit more specificity regarding its exact placement. Nevertheless, the response successfully fulfills the core requirements of academic task 1, earning a solid score in this category.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from introduction to overview, past layout description, and finally the current layout. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, body paragraph for the past, and body paragraph for the present. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'At first' and 'After the renovation', which help guide the reader through the temporal changes. However, cohesion sometimes feels slightly mechanical or abrupt, and referencing could be smoother in places. To push into higher bands, the writer could use more sophisticated referencing and transitional phrases to link sentences and paragraphs with greater fluency and naturalness.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to successfully communicate the changes in the cafe. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'transformation', 'amenities', 'innovation', and 'renovation'. However, there are some word-choice and collocation errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'changed and ordinary dining space to a moden restaurant' (where 'changed' should be 'changed an' and 'moden' contains a spelling error), and 'could had their meal' (grammatical error in lexical frame, though checked under grammar, the form 'had' is incorrect). Spelling mistakes like 'moden' are present. To improve, the writer needs to expand their range of less common lexical items and ensure accurate word formation and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory phrases effectively. There are several error-free sentences, such as 'New amenities were introduced and some old facilities were replaced or eliminated.' However, some grammatical errors persist, including verb form errors ('staff members could had their meal' instead of 'could have'), article omissions or misuse ('changed and ordinary dining space'), and minor spelling/typographical slips. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but sentence structures lack the wide variety and consistent control required for higher bands. The errors present rarely impede communication, placing the response comfortably within the mid-range for grammatical accuracy.

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

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