Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The plans below illustrate the changes made to the layout of a college cafe before and in the present time after it was redesigned.

Overall, the major changes include the addition of an outdoor seating pace. However, the indoor area has the same layout with the inclusion of a new salad bar, coffee bar and a take awat food corner. The kitchen, recycling bins and toilets are in their original locations.

The kitchen underwent a small modification where the serving area for food and drink is now used to serve hot meals. Additionally, both the staff dining rooms are replaced with a takeaway food counter adjacent to which is a coffee bar. Furthermore, a salad bar was introduced right beside the door to the kitchen. The waste bin was improved into multiple recycling bins.

The barbecue station was added towards one end of the outdoor area, with a seating arrangement for 26 people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by outlining the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two plans. You provide a clear overview in the second paragraph mentioning the outdoor seating addition and spatial continuities. Key features such as the kitchen modifications, replacement of staff rooms with a coffee bar and takeaway counter, addition of a salad bar, and outdoor barbecue station are reported accurately. However, some aspects are slightly under-developed; for instance, the detail regarding seating numbers or specific spatial shifts could be extended further. To reach a higher level, ensure all main features are thoroughly elaborated with greater precision and depth across the entire response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from the introductory summary to specific structural changes. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from body details. However, cohesion feels somewhat mechanical at times, with transitional phrases like 'Additionally', 'Furthermore', and 'The kitchen underwent' operating as isolated links rather than creating a seamless flow. Referencing is generally clear, but improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would elevate the organizational structure of the writing.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

An adequate range of vocabulary is deployed for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific terms such as 'redesigned', 'layout', 'counter', and 'barbecue station'. There are clear attempts to use less common vocabulary, though this is accompanied by occasional word choice and spelling errors, such as 'take awat' instead of 'takeaway' and 'pace' instead of 'space'. These slips do not impede communication, but they highlight the need for greater precision in word form and proofreading. To achieve a higher score, you should demonstrate more consistent control over less common lexical items and precise collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The writing demonstrates a satisfactory mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like relative clauses and prepositional phrases effectively (e.g., 'where the serving area for food and drink is now used to serve hot meals'). There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles or awkward phrasing in temporal markers like 'before and in the present time', but they are infrequent and rarely impede communication. The majority of simple sentences are clear and well-controlled. To reach the next band, you should incorporate a wider variety of complex structures with sustained accuracy throughout the text.

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

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