Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-09

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 map displays a college cafe before it was rebuilt and how it appears now.

Overall, it is evident that the salad bar, barbecue, and outdoor seating were newly constructed after the redesign, whereas the location of the tables and chairs remains unchanged.

To begin with, talking about the cafe before the redesign, the kitchen was located north-south near the serving area, where all the food and drinks were served. There was a small opening near the serving area, through which customers could access tables and chairs. The staff dining area was situated in the middle of the cafe, near the tables and chairs, and had two separate rooms. The entrance was on the east. There was also a bin near the entrance, and besides the bin, toilets were available.

Furthermore, turning to the cafe today, the location of the entrance, tables and chairs, toilets and kitchen remains unchanged. The serving area was replaced by hot meals. The takeaway food and coffee bar was constructed in place of the staff dining room. Moreover, a salad bar was also built in the west, and a barbecue on the west-south. The outdoor seating area was newly made after a redesign, and there was a separate entrance for accessing toilets were made near the outdoor seating.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response identifies the main transformation clearly: new salad-bar and outdoor facilities, while the central seating remains, and it compares several features before and after. It also correctly notes the kitchen, toilets and entrance as broadly unchanged and the replacement of the serving counter with hot meals. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the staff dining rooms were along the north wall, not “in the middle,” and the new southern doors lead to outdoor seating, not to the toilets. The description of the kitchen as “north-south” is also not a clear account of its position. The overview is relevant, but a more precise account of the major layout changes and their locations would make the coverage more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised into an introduction, a clear overview, and separate paragraphs describing the former and current layouts. This gives the reader a logical progression, and signposts such as “To begin with” and “Furthermore” help distinguish the two stages. The comparison paragraph also brings together features that remain and those that have changed. Some linking is slightly mechanical, however, and the long sequence of details in each paragraph could be grouped more deliberately by location or function. For example, the final sentence combines outdoor seating, access, and toilets, making the relationship between these features confusing. More precise referencing and transitions between related changes would make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

There is an adequate range of vocabulary for describing a plan, including “redesign,” “remains unchanged,” “replaced,” and “situated.” These choices help communicate the main comparisons, and the writer attempts some less common directional language. However, several expressions are imprecise or awkward: “north-south” does not clearly describe the kitchen’s location, “west-south” is not a natural directional phrase, and “newly made” is less suitable than a more precise verb such as “added.” Repetition of “constructed,” “built,” and “made” also limits flexibility. Use standard location phrases such as “in the north-west corner” and “to the south-west,” and choose verbs that distinguish facilities being added from existing areas being converted.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

The response uses a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the overview clause beginning “whereas” and the relative clause “through which customers could access tables and chairs.” Most sentences are understandable, and the present and past tenses generally distinguish the two plans. Some grammatical errors remain. In “the location of the entrance, tables and chairs, toilets and kitchen remains unchanged,” the list needs clearer article and number agreement, while “there was a separate entrance for accessing toilets were made” contains a faulty clause structure and obscures the intended meaning. “The staff dining area … had two separate rooms” is also less precise grammatically and semantically than describing two rooms. More careful sentence construction and checking of articles, agreement, and clause boundaries would improve accuracy.

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.