Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 plans compare the layout of a college cafe before and after redesign. Overall, the cafe underwent a significant development, with the expansion of the cafe which is dedicated to people eating in outdoor and also with the inclusion of barbecue. However, kitchen and the foyer which contains table and chair remains the same throughout.

Before redesign, kitchen is located in the north side of the plan and adjacent to that was serving area where food and drinks are being served. The central of the layout has tables and chairs with rooms for staffs. The toilet is situated on the south-east corner and nearby was a bin.

Today, after redesign, the cafe was expanded with the addition of outdoor seating and barbecue. Serving area which once stood was replaced by hot meals and staff dinng rooms was changed to take away food and coffee bar. Also, salad bar is added on the west corner.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the main requirements of the task by comparing the before and after plans of the college cafe. An overall trend is identified, and key features such as the outdoor seating, barbecue, and changes to the serving and dining areas are reported. However, some parts of the task are handled more fully than others, and certain details are slightly under-developed or imprecise. For instance, the mention of the kitchen remaining the same overlooks subtle internal updates, and the description of the layout relies on general terms rather than fully exploring all spatial shifts. To reach a higher level, the response would need to select and highlight more comprehensive key features with greater depth of comparison across the entire floor plan.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into an introduction, a past description, and a present description, supported by paragraphing. Cohesive devices are employed to signal transitions, such as 'Before redesign' and 'Today, after redesign', which helps the reader follow the temporal shift. However, some cohesive links feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous phrasing regarding the cafe expansion. To move into the next band, the progression of ideas would need to be smoother, utilising a wider variety of cohesive ties more flexibly without relying on formulaic transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, conveying basic ideas about the layout changes. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary related to map reading and restaurant features, such as 'redesign', 'expansion', and 'barbecue'. However, there are noticeable lexical and spelling inaccuracies that occur throughout the response, including 'staff dinng rooms', 'table and chair' instead of 'tables and chairs', and awkward phrasing like 'people eating in outdoor'. These word choice and spelling errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the score to the current level. Achieving a higher band would require a wider range of precise lexical items, better collocation control, and accurate word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, attempting structures like relative clauses and prepositional phrases. Grammatical control is evident in sentences such as 'The plans compare the layout of a college cafe before and after redesign.' However, there are frequent minor errors in grammar, particularly with articles, pluralisation, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'kitchen is located' missing an article, 'room for staffs' where 'staff' is uncountable, and tense inconsistencies like 'is being served' mixed with past descriptions. While these errors rarely impede communication, they persist throughout the text. Strengthening this area requires a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and more consistent control over articles and verb tenses.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.