Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-11

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 layouts compare a college cafe before renovation and how it looks today.

Overall, significants changes were made in the layout, with certain facilities, such as take away food and an outdoor seating.

In terms of previous design, a kitchen along with serving area of all types of eatables were on the north-west. In the centre of cafe, there were two separate dining rooms for male and female staff. A separate area with tables and chairs was allocated, where students could enjoy their meal. Toilets were situated at the south of the cafe and bins for discarding waste were located at the east.

Regarding the cafe today, instead of all kinds of foods and drinks, only hot meals were served at the serving area. In the centre of the cafe, two new facilities were introduced, such as take away food and a coffee bar. A salad bar and a barbecue station were also placed at the west side. An outdoor seating was also available towards the south.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You provide a clear overview that the café was redesigned and identify several important additions, including takeaway food, a coffee bar and outdoor seating. You also compare the former all-food-and-drink serving area with the new hot-meals counter. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the two rooms were staff dining rooms, not separate rooms for male and female staff, and they were along the north wall rather than in the centre. The salad bar was on the western wall, while the barbecue was outside to the south-west; describing both as being on the west side blurs their locations. The response also omits notable changes such as the new southern doors and recycling bins. More precise coverage of these features would make the summary more complete and better grounded in the plans.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised into a brief introduction, an overview and two paragraphs comparing the former and current layouts. The progression from the previous design to the café today is easy to follow, and signposts such as “In terms of previous design” and “Regarding the cafe today” help orient the reader. The contrast between the old serving area and the hot-meals counter also gives the comparison a clear thread. To strengthen the organisation further, group changes by location or function and connect related details more explicitly—for example, explain that the former staff rooms were replaced by the takeaway and coffee-bar sections. The overview is quite general, and the final paragraph lists additions without consistently clarifying where they are in relation to the building.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a suitable range of vocabulary for describing a plan, including “layout,” “allocated,” “situated,” “introduced” and “outdoor seating.” These choices generally communicate the changes clearly. Some word choices and collocations are less natural or precise, however: “significants changes” has an incorrect form, “all types of eatables” is awkward, and “an outdoor seating” is not idiomatic. “A separate area with tables and chairs was allocated” is also vague when the plan simply labels the central space as tables and chairs. Aim for standard plan-description phrases such as “the central seating area” and “was replaced by.” More precise location vocabulary would also help distinguish facilities inside the café from those outside.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex structures, including the opening comparison and the contrast introduced by “instead of.” Most sentences are understandable, and errors do not prevent the reader from following the main changes. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain. In “significants changes,” the adjective form should be “significant”; “an outdoor seating” needs a different construction, such as “an outdoor seating area”; and “at the south of the cafe” would be more naturally expressed as “in the south of the café” or “at the southern end.” The sentence beginning “In the centre of cafe” also needs an article. Review articles, adjective forms and prepositions, while continuing to vary sentence structures.

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