The plans below show the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.
Sample Response
The two maps illustrate the current layout of the Southwest Airport and its planned modifications for the next year.
In general, the airport is set for significant expansion and modernisation, with a substantial increase in facilities and improved passenger flow, particularly regarding gates and amenities for both arrivals and departures.
Currently, the airport features a single arrival and departure area, with eight gates served by two walkways. Amenities are somewhat limited, including only a café in the departure lounge and nothing in the arrival area.
Next year, the redeveloped airport will undergo substantial transformation. The number of gates will more than double to eighteen, suggesting a much higher passenger capacity. A key addition will be an internal sky train, vastly improving connectivity within the expanded complex. New facilities are planned for departing passengers, including additional shops and dedicated bag drop areas. For arrivals, new amenities will encompass a café, ATMs, and a car hire facility, indicating a more comprehensive service offering.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use concise timing Original: planned modifications for the next year Suggested revision: planned redevelopment next year Why it matters: This wording matches the task and states the timing more naturally.
- 2. Separate the areas Original: a single arrival and departure area Suggested revision: separate departure and arrival areas Why it matters: The current plan shows distinct areas for departures and arrivals.
- 3. Correct walkway count Original: two walkways Suggested revision: a central walkway Why it matters: The current plan shows one straight walkway serving the eight gates.
- 4. Use shown location Original: departure lounge Suggested revision: departure area Why it matters: The plan labels a departure area rather than a departure lounge.
- 5. Specify missing amenities Original: nothing in the arrival area Suggested revision: no amenities in the arrival area Why it matters: This specifies what the map shows as absent without implying that the area is empty.
- 6. Describe visible change Original: suggesting a much higher passenger capacity Suggested revision: while the gate concourse will become Y-shaped Why it matters: The new concourse shape is directly visible, whereas passenger capacity is an inference.
- 7. Avoid unsupported effect Original: vastly improving connectivity within the expanded complex Suggested revision: connecting the terminal to the expanded gate concourse Why it matters: This states the sky train's visible function without making an unmeasured claim about improvement.
- 8. Remove inaccurate addition Original: additional shops Suggested revision: shops Why it matters: The current plan shows no shops, so the proposed shops are new rather than additional.
- 9. Use singular facility Original: dedicated bag drop areas Suggested revision: a dedicated bag-drop area Why it matters: The redevelopment plan shows one bag-drop facility.
- 10. Add entrance comparison Suggested revision: Add a comparison noting that both the departures and arrivals sections will gain an additional entrance. Why it matters: The doubled entrances are a clear structural change that is not covered in the redevelopment paragraph.
Suggested Rewrites
- planned modifications for the next year planned redevelopment next year
- a single arrival and departure area separate departure and arrival areas
- two walkways a central walkway
- departure lounge departure area
- nothing in the arrival area no amenities in the arrival area
- suggesting a much higher passenger capacity while the gate concourse will become Y-shaped
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear overview of the airport’s expansion and selects the most important changes, including the increase in gates, the sky train, and new facilities on both sides of the terminal. Its main limitation is that some unchanged features and layout details are omitted. Add one concise comparison of the retained controls and check-in areas to make the coverage more complete.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The main transformation is accurately summarised and the most significant additions are well selected, with only minor layout details omitted.
Briefly identify the facilities that remain in place and clarify how the gate area changes shape as well as size.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and a well-managed progression from overview to the current site and future plan make the report easy to follow.
Strengthen the final paragraph further by ordering changes spatially from departures through the gate area to arrivals.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and precise, with effective language for redevelopment, capacity, connectivity, and amenities.
Prefer strictly visual description over interpretive phrases such as suggesting higher capacity when a direct comparison is available.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used accurately, and errors are rare and do not impede communication.
Maintain this control while using slightly more concise sentence structures for dense lists of future facilities.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The plans below show the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.