Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-14

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 maps below compare college cafe before and after reconstruction.

At a cursory glance, many changes are being made to the cafe, while some remain as they were before. Barbecue and Salad bar counters are now part of the cafe. Meanwhile, staff dining rooms are being replaced by coffee bar and take away food, in addition to normal bins replaced by recycling bins.

To commence with, to the south of table and chairs a new barbecue section is added with outdoor seatings. Similarly, to the west of tables and chairs a new salad bar is added to the vicinity. While, staff dining rooms are now reconstructed to allocate space to take away food and coffee bar in the largest section of the cafe, toilets and bin are still there. However, normal bins are replaced by recycling bins. Moving on to the kitchen, in the new cafe, serving area does not have food and drinks but now has hot meals only.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify several major changes, including the new salad bar, outdoor seating and barbecue, the replacement of staff dining rooms with a coffee bar and takeaway area, and the change from a general serving area to hot meals. You also note that the toilets remain and the bin provision changes. This gives a relevant account of the redesign, but some features are less fully reported: the kitchen remains in the same position, the central tables and chairs are retained, and the new southern doors and the four outdoor tables are not mentioned. The overview is present, though it could more clearly distinguish what stayed the same from what changed. More precise coverage of these features would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable progression: an opening overview is followed by details about the southern and western areas, the former staff rooms, and finally the kitchen. Linking expressions such as “Meanwhile,” “Similarly,” and “Moving on to” help signal these shifts. However, the sequence is not always easy to follow because several distinct changes are compressed into long sentences, and the relationship between the overview and later details is sometimes repetitive. The sentence beginning “While, staff dining rooms…” is also an awkward transition, and “toilets and bin are still there” is followed by a separate restatement of the bin change. Grouping retained features together and describing changes by area would create smoother progression and clearer cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of map vocabulary, including “replaced,” “vicinity,” “reconstructed,” and “allocate space,” and the main changes are generally understandable. There are, however, several imprecise or unnatural choices that limit flexibility and precision. “Reconstruction” is less suitable for describing a redesign, while “outdoor seatings” and “normal bins” do not express the map labels naturally. “In the largest section of the cafe” is also unclear and does not accurately describe the arrangement. Aim for conventional plan-description language and use the labels precisely—for example, refer to outdoor seating, general waste bins, and the former staff rooms being converted. This would make your vocabulary more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex forms, including the contrast in “while some remain as they were before” and the clause “in addition to normal bins replaced by recycling bins.” Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions recur. For example, “many changes are being made” uses an unsuitable present progressive for a completed redesign; “While, staff dining rooms…” is an incomplete, incorrectly punctuated clause; and “toilets and bin are still there” has a number-agreement problem. The sentence about the serving area also needs clearer tense and structure. Use past or present-perfect forms consistently for completed changes, and check clause boundaries, articles and singular/plural agreement.

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