Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-12

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 maps shows a college cafe by showing how it looked before and how it is now after it is redesigned.

Overall, an outdoor seating and barbecue arrangement is added, in addition to a salad bar inside the building. The staff dining rooms have been converted into a take away and coffee bar rooms.

The cafe building initially had two staff dining rooms near the kitchen area, and a bin area in front of the toilets. All foods were served in the only serving area in front of the kitchen towards the inside of the building. The new plan has replaced the bins with recycling bins and the serving area of the kitchen into hot meals area only. Two doors are constructed near each corner of the cafe, towards the extended outdoor area that houses a big seating area and a barbecue cooking point.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main changes, including the new outdoor seating and barbecue, the salad bar, and the conversion of the staff dining rooms into takeaway and coffee areas. You also report the change from a general serving area to hot meals and from a bin to recycling bins. However, some important features are only briefly covered: the toilets remain in the same position, and the central tables and chairs are retained. The phrase “two doors are constructed near each corner” is also imprecise; the plan shows two new doors in the southern wall. The response is 144 words, below the required 150, so it does not fully meet the task requirement. Develop the comparison with a few more accurate details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing specific changes. The overview effectively groups the major additions and conversions, while phrases such as “Overall” and “in addition to” help connect ideas. The final paragraph, however, moves between the original and current plans without a consistently clear sequence, and “The new plan” could refer to several changes at once. Some details are also compressed into long sentences, making the relationships between locations less easy to follow. Organise the body by area—for example, changes inside first, then the southern outdoor area—and use clear references such as “in the original layout” and “in the redesigned café.”

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing a plan, including “converted,” “replaced,” “extended outdoor area,” and “recycling bins.” These choices communicate the main changes, and the meaning is generally clear. Some wording is imprecise or unnatural, however: “a bin area” suggests a designated area rather than the single bin shown, “big seating area” is vague, and “barbecue cooking point” is an awkward description. “Take away” is better written as “takeaway” when used as a noun or modifier. Aim for precise plan vocabulary and natural collocations, such as “outdoor seating area,” “barbecue area,” and “the former staff dining rooms.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview sentence with “in addition to” and the sentence describing the doors and outdoor area. Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. The opening “The maps shows” has subject–verb disagreement; use “The maps show.” In “how it looked before and how it is now after it is redesigned,” the tense sequence is awkward; “before and after the redesign” would be clearer. “All foods were served” also uses an unnecessary plural, and “the serving area of the kitchen into hot meals area” lacks a clear grammatical construction. Check agreement, articles, and sentence structure when revising.

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