Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The plans illustrate the layout of a college cafe before and after it was redesigned.

Overall, the cafe has undergone a remarkable upgrade. Significant features can be noticed in the layout the cafe has today with salad bars, barbeque, take away food, coffee bar, outdoor seating, recycling bins and hot meals section.

Takeaway food and coffee bar now occupy the staff dining rooms. Instead of a regular bin, the cafe now has recycling bin. Hot meals are now available where serving area used to be. The students also have an option to get their choice of salad. The outdoor seating and barbeque are also the new additions.

In conclusion, the current layout is more appealing to students than the old.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important changes, including the replacement of the staff dining rooms with takeaway and coffee areas, the new salad bar, outdoor seating and barbecue, and the change from a bin to recycling bins. The opening overview also signals that the café has been upgraded. However, the comparison is incomplete: the kitchen and toilets remain in place, and the central tables and chairs are retained, but these useful unchanged features are not reported. Some points are also under-developed, and the final claim that the new layout is “more appealing to students” is an unsupported opinion rather than a feature shown by the plans. The response is 120 words, below the required 150, so it needs more relevant detail to cover the plans adequately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph describing changes, and a brief conclusion. The sequence is generally easy to follow, and phrases such as “Instead of” and “where … used to be” help signal comparisons. However, the short body paragraph lists changes without grouping them by location or distinguishing new facilities from retained features, so the reader gets only a limited sense of the overall layout. The conclusion repeats a general judgement rather than adding useful information. To improve progression, organise the details into related groups—for example, changes inside the café and additions outside—and use clear references to the north, west, and south sides.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “layout,” “redesigned,” “staff dining rooms,” “serving area,” and “outdoor seating.” These terms make the main changes understandable. There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “remarkable upgrade,” but this is evaluative and less suitable for an objective plan summary. Some choices are imprecise or inconsistent: “salad bars” should refer to the single “salad bar,” and “recycling bin” does not match the plan’s plural label, “recycling bins.” “Takeaway” and “take away” are also written in two forms. More precise location and facility vocabulary would help you describe the plans accurately and avoid relying on broad claims such as “more appealing.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

Your sentences are generally clear, and you show some variety through structures such as “where serving area used to be” and “Instead of a regular bin, the cafe now has recycling bin.” The past-versus-present comparison is mostly handled successfully, and errors rarely prevent understanding. Some article use is missing, however: write “where the serving area used to be” and “has a recycling bin.” The sentence “Significant features can be noticed in the layout the cafe has today with…” is awkwardly constructed; a clearer form would be “The current layout includes several new features, such as…”. You also rely heavily on short, simple statements. Adding accurate complex sentences to compare what changed with what remained would demonstrate a broader range while maintaining control.

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

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