Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-04

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 plan demostrates the layout and design of a college cafe before and after the interior changes.

Overall it can be analysed, the cafe has undergone many significant changes and is more efficiently redesigned to cater the college students.

To begin with, before any changes the layout of the cafe of quite simple and basic. The entrance to the main hall was from the top right. Straight infront of the entrance door were two staff dining rooms each had it's own door and a round table with chairs. Moving onto the left of the main entrance door was a bin for disposing all the trash and few steps ahead of the bin were toilets. The rest of the dining hall consisted of several tables and chairs for all the students. The kitchen was situated in the top left of the cafe which had its own entrance door and the right side included the serving area where the food and drinks were served.

Moving towards the redesigned cafe, which has alot more to offer the students and faculty. The entrance to the cafe is the same but right infront of it the staff dining rooms are being replaced by the take away food and coffee bar, which proves to be quite convenient for the students. Bins are replaced by many recycling bins though the location is the same. Moving towards the left end of the hall a salad bar is situated which means students have many options. The Kitchen is at the top left and right from the entrance is an area designated for hot meals. The major change is the outdoor seating and exit is from the bottom left where the barbecue station following five tables are arranged.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the college cafe before and after its redesign, while incorporating relevant comparisons. An overview is provided at the beginning, noting that significant changes were made to improve efficiency. The key features, such as the kitchen, seating areas, and facilities like toilets and bins, are adequately covered. However, certain parts of the response are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in positioning, such as placing the new exit and barbecue station at the bottom left rather than appropriately relating them to the southern wall. The selection of data is generally good, but to reach the next band, the response would need to ensure all spatial relationships are described with greater precision and full development of all key comparative features without minor descriptive lapses.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from the past layout to the present layout, supported by an introductory overview and paragraphing that separates the different stages of the maps. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the spatial changes, such as 'To begin with', 'Moving onto', and 'Moving towards the redesigned cafe'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel somewhat mechanical or repetitive in their transitional phrases. Furthermore, paragraphing could be structured more cleanly by separating the past layout into more distinct thematic blocks. To achieve a higher band, the essay must demonstrate more sophisticated and seamless paragraph transitions and a wider, more flexible variety of cohesive devices without relying on repetitive formulas.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional language related to maps and changes, such as 'redesigned', 'efficiently', 'designated', and 'recycling bins'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors that prevent a higher score, such as 'demostrates' instead of 'demonstrates', 'of quite simple' instead of 'was quite simple', and 'alot'. Collocation and word choice are sometimes awkward, for example 'cater the college students' missing the preposition 'for'. While these lexical shortcomings do not seriously impede communication, reaching a higher band would require a wider and more precise range of vocabulary with more natural control over word choice, collocations, and completely accurate spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and participial phrases, such as 'which has alot more to offer' and 'where the barbecue station following five tables are arranged'. There are some grammatical errors and punctuation slips throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('each had it's own door', where 'it's' is also an incorrect possessive form) and awkward prepositional usage ('on the left of the main entrance door'). Despite these errors, the structures used rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions easily. To move up to the next band, the student needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex structures with frequent error-free sentences and tighter control over articles, verb forms, and punctuation.

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

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