Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-05

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 given map of a college cafe shows changes in its infrastructure over the time.

Overall, the cafe has undergone significant development with the passage of time.

The serving area for all food and drinks in front of the kitchen has changed into the place for hot meals. In the west of dining hall, a salad bar has been constructed. Meanwhile, two rooms for staff dining have been converted into room for take away and a coffee bar.

In the east of dining hall, recyling bins have been installed which were used to be bins only before the development. However, the toilets are on the same spot as before. Additionally, the outdoor seating has also been arranged in front of the cafe to manage more customers during days of rush. Cafe has also started the service of barbecue after redevelopment and for this a barbecue counter is installed in the west of outdoor seating.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully covers all main features of the college cafe plans, both before and after the redesign, meeting the criteria for a solid score. You have accurately highlighted key transformations, such as the change from a general serving area to a hot meals counter, the addition of the salad bar along the western wall, and the conversion of staff dining rooms into a take-away section and coffee bar. Furthermore, you correctly noted the inclusion of outdoor seating, a barbecue area, and recycling bins. The overview clearly outlines that the cafe underwent significant development over time. While the ideas are relevant and generally well supported, some features could have been extended slightly further to reach the highest bands, such as providing a bit more detail about the spatial rearrangement of the eastern and western boundaries.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

Your response demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical organization and progression throughout. You begin with an introductory sentence describing the map and follow with a general overview. The body details the changes methodically, moving from the kitchen and internal modifications to external features like the outdoor seating and barbecue. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Meanwhile', 'However', and 'Additionally', though referencing is occasionally a bit mechanical or repetitive in transitions between sentences (for instance, starting multiple sentences with 'In the west of...'). Paragraphing could also be structured more traditionally, as combining the overview and body details into a single dense block limits the flow. To achieve a higher band, ensure smoother transitions between paragraphs and more flexible, varied cohesive referencing.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'infrastructure', 'redevelopment', and 'constructed'. However, there are some minor word-choice and spelling inaccuracies that prevent a higher score, such as 'recyling' instead of 'recycling' and awkward phrasing like 'used to be bins only' rather than 'formerly used for general waste'. Collocations are mostly acceptable, but phrases like 'manage more customers' could be refined to 'accommodate more customers'. To push into higher bands, aim to incorporate a wider variety of precise, sophisticated lexical items and ensure complete accuracy in spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar and punctuation. You successfully employ passive structures ('has been constructed', 'have been installed') and relative clauses ('which were used to be'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing patterns present, such as 'over the time' (instead of 'over time'), 'in the west of dining hall' (missing articles), 'room for take away' (singular/plural mismatch), and 'during days of rush' (unnatural prepositional usage). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to keep the score at this level. To improve, focus on article usage, prepositional precision, and ensuring subject-verb and noun-form agreements.

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

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