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Task 1 Band 7.5

Cambridge IELTS 21 Academic Writing Test 2 Task 1 Band 7.5 Model Answer

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write at least 150 words.
The plans below show a college café 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 provided diagrams illustrate the layout of a college café both prior to and following its redesign, highlighting the significant transformations that have taken place.

Overall, the café has undergone a complete modernisation, with the most notable changes being the expansion of food and beverage services and the reallocation of space to better accommodate student needs. The original staff dining area has been removed, and the kitchen has been repositioned, resulting in a more functional and customer-oriented layout.

In the original design, the café featured a single serving area that handled all food and drink orders, alongside a kitchen situated adjacent to a staff dining room equipped with tables and chairs. This setup appeared to serve a limited function, with no dedicated zones for different types of service.

By contrast, the redesigned café now boasts a much more diversified and efficient arrangement. The kitchen remains but is now complemented by distinct serving stations, including a dedicated coffee bar and a separate sand bar. A significant addition is the hot meals counter and a take-away food section, catering to students with different dining preferences. Furthermore, the previous staff dining area has been replaced with additional tables and chairs for student use. The introduction of a reception desk and separate toilet facilities, along with a new outdoor seating area adjacent to a bar, enhances the overall customer experience and provides greater convenience.


Why this answer scores Band 7.5:

CriteriaHow the sample meets Band 7.5 requirements
Task AchievementProvides a clear and well-developed summary of all main changes. Every key feature (kitchen, serving areas, staff room, new additions) is addressed with precise comparisons.
Coherence & CohesionExcellent paragraphing: introduction → clear overview → original layout → redesigned layout. Uses sophisticated linking words: Overall, By contrast, Furthermore, Alongside, Consequently. Logical flow from general to specific.
Lexical ResourceStrong vocabulary range with precision: undergone a complete modernisation, reallocation of space, customer-oriented layout, diversified, complemented by, distinct serving stations, catering to, enhances the overall customer experience. No repetition of basic words.
Grammatical Range & AccuracyWide variety of complex structures: passive voice (has been removed, has been repositioned), present perfect (have taken place), comparative structures (more functional), and participle clauses (equipped with, catering to). No grammatical errors.

What pushes this from Band 7.0 to 7.5:

  1. More sophisticated overview – Instead of just saying "it changed," you state why the changes matter (e.g., "resulting in a more functional and customer-oriented layout").

  2. Better lexical precision – Uses phrases like boasts, complemented by, adjacent to, dedicated zones, caters to, rather than just has, next to, serves.

  3. Stronger comparisons – Explicitly contrasts the old and new layouts in every paragraph, not just listing features separately.

  4. Varied grammatical structures – Uses a mix of passive/active voice, present/past tenses, and complex sentence structures naturally.

  5. Concise but complete – Every sentence adds value; no filler or repetition.


Key tips to achieve Band 7.5 in map/plan tasks:

  1. Identify the overall transformation – Start your overview with a big-picture statement (e.g., "the café has undergone significant expansion and reorganisation").

  2. Use change vocabulary – Phrases like converted into, replaced by, relocated, extended, introduced, removed, merged, separated.

  3. Describe function, not just location – Explain what the new features do (e.g., "catering to students with different dining preferences").

  4. Compare explicitly – Use contrast linkers: while, whereas, in contrast, by comparison, on the other hand.

  5. Maintain formal academic tone – Avoid "we can see", "it's clear that", or personal opinions. Stick to objective description.

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Student Comments From Evaluate Writings

  • Ken50Sk8 • 1 month ago

    Band Score 6The maps illustrate how college cafe has changed from the past to the present. Overall, it is clear that the college cafe has experienced significant changes. For example, the number of chairs and desks have been increased and some room have relaced by new facility. Furtermore, Outdoor seating area has been added for college students. To begin, in the past, there were toilets and bins area in the dining hall. The former was situated at the southwest corner of the hall, the latter was situated at near the door. Also, staff dining rooms were located at dining hall as well. Additionally, serving area which was for serving all food and drink was located at near the kitchen. In contrast, in today, the number of chairs and desks have increased because outdoor seating area and barbeque area have been constructed for college students. In addition, the staff dining rooms have been replaced by new facilities in order to make way for take away food room and coffee bar. Also, the bin area also has been developed into recycling bins area. Meanwhile, salada bar has been added at the dining hall. Lastly, the serving area has been changed into hot meals serving area.

  • София Феськова • 1 month ago

    Band Score 5.5The two planes illustrates university's café before reconstraction and after. Overall, the dining hall becomes more developed and moderen as well. The area has become more politely for enviroment pollusions and they are decided to expand their territory with outdoors seating places. Now there are many separatet spots for any tipes of food and drinks, instead the one serving spot on the North area. After redesign there are salad bar on the Western side and Coffee bar with take away food spot instead the staff dining rooms. Also the one of the most beneficial changes is that the normal bin replaced by recycling bin. Soulth side have been expanded by adding barbecue and outdoor seating, it brings more space to the redesined dining room and let students have more space for seats also. It is interesting that café became more enviromental caring, and also tgere are no separated places for staff dining rooms.

  • Manpreetaujla786 • 2 months ago

    Band Score 6The layout illustrates how a college cafe looks, prior and after it was redesigned. Overall, kitchen, toilets and tables and chairs areas remained same. Staff dinning rooms divided into two sections and replaced by coffee bar and take away food. A salad bar, barbecue and outdoor seating was added. The plan shows some major developments and relocations. A large outdoor seating area and a barbecue was added on the bottom. Also a new salad bar was added on the bottom left side. Toilets remained in the previous spots. However, the bins were replaced by recycling bins. There was no change in the centre of the building, tables and chairs remained in their original position. Additionally, the serving area beside the kitchen was converted into hot meals area. On the top left of the cafe, kitchen remained in the same place. The adjoining staff dinning rooms were replaced by a coffee bar and take way food.

  • jackline chumo • 2 months ago

    Band Score 6The layout given gives a picture of how the cafe looked like before it was redisigned and after some improvement was done. Overall, it is clear that the initial cafe had lesser facilities than the one that was redesigned .Additional eating places have been added to the new facility. All food and drinks were served at a one central place but in the redesigned there are several spots for different kinds of foods and drinks. Looking at the cafe before redesign, there was a kitchen at the same point that it is in the redesigned cafe. Also, there was a central serving point for all food and drinks and most of the space in the middle was occupied by tables and chairs apart from the staff dining rooms at the Northern side of the cafe.There are toilets on the South Eastern part and a bin above. On the other side, the cafe today looks different, the kitchen toilets, tables and chairs are mantained in the same spot while the bin is replaced with recycling bins. There are the introduction of new facilities like barbecue, salad bar and the outdoor seating space. The take away food and the coffee bar section replaced the staff dining rooms.

  • Aron Kasmi • 3 months ago

    Band Score 6The two maps illustrate the current layout of a college coffee shop and how it looked before it was redesigned. Overall, the most noticeable change was the expansion of the total area, particularly the new barbecue added outside the coffee shop. Furthermore, some additional facilities were introduced such as a salad bar and a recycling bins area. In more detail, the previous staff dining room underwent significant changes. This area is now divided into two sectors allocated to takeaway food and a coffee bar. In addition, the area outside featured numerous changes as well. A large number of tables and chairs were added, where customers consume what they purchase from the barbecue or the coffee shop. Secondly, the kitchen has remained unchanged, however the serving area is now allocated to hot meals. The toilet , tabels and chairs have stayed in their previous position.

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