Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 diagram illustrates the difference in the layout of the cafe before and after the redesign. Overall, the area consumed between both designs remain fairly the same. The major difference is the addition of an outdoor seating area featuring a barbecue in the new design.

Both designs feature a rectangular kitchen at the north-west surrounded by an open-area. They also share similar layout of tables and chairs. The bins along with the toilets are also placed at the same spot in both the designs.

Contrastingly, the designs also vary in multiple aspects. The serving area in old design has been replaced by an area dedicated to hot meals. Staff dining rooms have been replaced with a coffee bar and a corner for take away food. The indoor area also constitutes of a brand new salad bar. The cafe today also features an outdoor seating area with barbecue facilities and a new salad bar in the indoor seating. The redesign is significantly better and provides many new features for the students to enjoy.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall change—the addition of outdoor seating and a barbecue—and report several accurate comparisons, including the kitchen and toilets remaining in place and the serving counter becoming a hot-meals area. This covers the task’s central features. However, some details are incomplete or imprecise: the two former staff rooms become separate takeaway-food and coffee-bar sections, and the new salad bar is specifically along the western wall. The statement that the area “remain[s] fairly the same” is not clearly supported, while “significantly better” gives an opinion rather than describing the plans. To strengthen the response, give a more precise overview of what stayed and what changed, and avoid evaluative claims.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview, followed by shared features and then changes. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall” and “Contrastingly” help signal the organisation. However, the final paragraph repeats information already given: the outdoor seating and barbecue are mentioned twice, as is the salad bar. The reference to “the new salad bar in the indoor seating” is also unclear, since the plan places it along the western wall. Grouping the changes by location, and removing repeated points, would create a more controlled progression. The paragraphing is appropriate, but some cohesion and referencing remain mechanical or imprecise.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of vocabulary for describing plans, including “layout,” “replaced,” “dedicated to,” and “outdoor seating area.” These choices communicate the main changes clearly, and there is some attempt to vary wording rather than rely only on basic terms. A few expressions are inaccurate or unnatural, however: “area consumed” does not clearly describe the floor plan, “surrounded by an open-area” is an awkward description, and “a corner for take away food” is less precise than the label in the plan. “The redesign is significantly better” is also evaluative rather than an objective description. More precise spatial and plan-related vocabulary would improve flexibility and accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “The serving area in old design has been replaced…” and the relative clause “an outdoor seating area featuring a barbecue.” Meaning is generally clear, and errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the comparison. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain: “the area … remain” has subject–verb disagreement, “similar layout” needs an article, and “in old design” and “in both the designs” use articles awkwardly. The phrase “the indoor area also constitutes of” has an incorrect verb pattern. Review agreement, articles, and verb complementation, then proofread for these recurring issues to make the sentence structures more consistently controlled.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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