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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 9.0 Example

Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.

194 words AcademicTask 1Map
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Highlight the main transformation: a central seating and table area in the earlier plan gives way to a layout with more specialised facilities.
  • Compare how the east side changes from children's and adult non-fiction books plus an enquiry desk to a lecture room, an information desk, self-service machines and a café.
  • Track the west side from media, adult fiction and a reading room to storytelling, children's fiction, reference books and a computer room; note that the entrance stays centrally located.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the two plans and give an overview of the most significant changes and any feature that remains.
  2. Describe the earlier layout, grouping rooms by side or by upper, middle and lower sections.
  3. Describe the current layout using the same spatial framework so the reader can compare positions.
  4. Finish with a concise summary of how the library's range of facilities has changed.
Useful vocabulary & examples
occupy the upper-left corner
be located in the top-left part of a floor plan

The media room occupied the upper-left corner of the library.

be replaced by
be removed and have something else put in its place

The central seating area was replaced by several new facilities.

remain in the same position
stay in the location shown in the earlier plan

The entrance remains in the same position at the centre of the lower wall.

be located opposite
be positioned across from another place or feature

The enquiry desk was located opposite the reading room.

Task Prompt

The diagram below shows the floor plan of a public library 20 years ago and how it looks now. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

The two given maps depict the layout of a public central library 20 years ago and how it appears now. Overall, in the past, the use of technology in the library was limited, while today its usage has increased. In addition, the areas designated for different age groups in the library have become more defined. More specifically, the former central tables and chairs have been removed, as have the separate adult non-fiction and enquiry-desk areas on the right. In their place, this side now contains a lecture room at the top, followed by adult fiction books and an information desk, with self-service machines and a café near the entrance. On the left, the old collections of CDs, videos and computer games, adult fiction, and newspapers and magazines have been replaced by children's fiction, a reference section and a computer room, respectively. A storytelling area with two sofas has also been added in the upper-left corner. The entrance remains centrally positioned along the southern wall. Overall, the plan has shifted from a layout organised around printed collections and a central reading area to one with more varied facilities, including technology, events, self-service and a café.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Use the overview to state the main spatial shift—away from a central reading area and towards a wider range of facilities—rather than making a claim about how often technology is used.
2
Pair each former feature with its replacement, such as the old reading room and the current computer room, to make the comparisons explicit.
3
Group details by side of the library, and check that location terms such as “upper-left” and “near the entrance” match the diagram.

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