Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-18

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 how a college cafe currently looks compared to how it looked before it was redesigned.

Overall, the cafe has become more commercial and focused on serving the customers with different variety of foods and drinks. The outdoor area has been expanded. Additionally, various counters such as salad bar, barbecue and hot meals have been added while staff dining rooms are removed.

Initially, two staff dining rooms were located inside the cafe. The restroom was at the southeast corner of the cafe. The area for serving drinks and foods was attached with the kitchen.

In present, the cafe has massively expanded its area. The staff dining rooms have been replaced with two separate counters that is take away food and coffee bar. Furthermore, there have been an addition of salad bar which is inside the cafe whereas barbecue counter is placed outside with outdoor seating. The restroom and kitchen remains in the same location. However, the area that used to serve all kinds of food and drinks has been discontinued and now it only serves hot meals.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main transformation clearly: the former staff dining rooms become takeaway and coffee facilities, the serving counter changes to hot meals, and new food options and outdoor seating are introduced. The overview also captures the more customer-focused use of the space. However, some important details are omitted or only briefly covered, including the salad bar’s position on the western wall, the recycling bins replacing the single bin, and the new southern doors connecting the café to the outdoor area. The claim that the café has “massively expanded its area” is not fully precise: the interior layout changes, and seating is added outside. More exact coverage of these features would make the summary more complete and developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing the former and current layouts. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Additionally,” “Furthermore,” and “However” help signal relationships between changes. Some progression is less effective because the final paragraph combines several separate features without a consistent spatial order, and “In present” is an awkward transition. The description would be clearer if you grouped changes by location—for example, north wall, western side, and southern exterior—and used references such as “the former serving area” consistently. This would make cohesion more flexible and less dependent on a list of connectors.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of vocabulary for describing a redesigned space, including “replaced,” “located,” “attached,” “counters,” and “outdoor seating.” These choices communicate the main changes, and the response is generally understandable. Some expressions are imprecise or unnatural, however: “different variety of foods and drinks” is redundant, “massively expanded its area” overstates the change, and “barbecue counter” does not accurately describe the barbecue area shown. “Restroom” is understandable, though “toilets” would match the plan’s label more directly. Aim for precise map vocabulary and natural collocations, such as “a wider range of food and drink options” and “an outdoor barbecue area.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “However, the area that used to serve all kinds of food and drinks has been discontinued…” Most sentences communicate their meaning clearly, but some grammatical errors remain. In “two separate counters that is take away food and coffee bar,” the verb should agree with the plural noun, and the sentence needs a clearer construction. “There have been an addition” has incorrect agreement and article use; “there has been an addition” would be grammatical. In “The restroom and kitchen remains,” the plural subject requires “remain.” Also, “In present” needs a grammatical time expression such as “At present.” More consistent control of agreement and sentence construction would improve accuracy.

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