The plans below show the site of an airport now and how it will look after redevelopment next year.
Sample Response
The alterations that an airport will go through in the following year are illustrated in the given layouts. Overall, it is apparent that by the next year site of the airport will have changed dramatically. The most prominent change will be the addition of a number of gates on the northernmost part of the airport.
The current layout of the airport has a cylindrical shape. There are eight gates surrounding the northern walkaway, which is in a square shape chamber. On the departure site, security and passport control are located. Just below the passport control, on the right corner, a café is available. On the western part of the departure site, check-in is placed.
By the following year, the plan of the airport will have altered sweepingly. A “Y” shape area is supposed to be developed on the north part of the airport, which it would be surrounded by 18 gates with sky trains in the middle. Shops are anticipated to be built above security and passport control. The café location will be replaced with check-in and a new facility named bag drop will be added to the previous location of check-in. On the arrival site of the future airport, passport control customs will remain unaltered, but a brand-new café, ATM, and car hire will be extended on the right side of the arrival section.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural phrasing Original: alterations that an airport will go through Suggested revision: alterations planned for the airport Why it matters: Airports undergo redevelopment, while alterations themselves are planned.
- 2. Match the timeframe Original: in the following year Suggested revision: next year Why it matters: This directly matches the timeframe given in the task.
- 3. Fix article and phrasing Original: by the next year site Suggested revision: by next year, the airport Why it matters: The revision supplies the missing subject structure and uses the time phrase naturally.
- 4. Correct the word Original: walkaway Suggested revision: walkway Why it matters: ‘Walkway’ is the correct noun for the passage shown in the plan.
- 5. Correct the layout description Original: in a square shape chamber Suggested revision: within a rectangular concourse Why it matters: The current gate area is rectangular rather than square.
- 6. Use airport terminology Original: On the departure site Suggested revision: In the departures area Why it matters: ‘Departures area’ is the natural term for this part of an airport.
- 7. Identify the location accurately Original: below the passport control Suggested revision: below security and passport control Why it matters: The café is shown beneath the combined security and passport-control area.
- 8. Describe location directly Original: available Suggested revision: located Why it matters: ‘Is located’ accurately describes a feature’s position on a plan.
- 9. Fix the collocation Original: altered sweepingly Suggested revision: changed substantially Why it matters: ‘Altered sweepingly’ is not a natural English collocation.
- 10. Use map direction Original: above security and passport control Suggested revision: north of security and passport control Why it matters: A compass-style direction describes the plan more precisely than ‘above’.
- 11. Name the feature directly Original: The café location Suggested revision: The current café Why it matters: The feature itself, rather than its abstract location, is being replaced.
- 12. Fix facility phrasing Original: named bag drop Suggested revision: called a bag drop Why it matters: The article is required when ‘bag drop’ names a countable facility.
Suggested Rewrites
- alterations that an airport will go through alterations planned for the airport
- in the following year next year
- by the next year site by next year, the airport
- walkaway walkway
- in a square shape chamber within a rectangular concourse
- On the departure site In the departures area
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is strongest in its clear present-versus-future structure and coverage of major additions, including the extra gates, shops, sky train, bag drop, and arrival facilities. Its main limitation is imprecise description of spatial features, especially calling the current layout cylindrical and using unclear location language. The highest-priority improvement is to report shapes and positions with simpler, visually exact wording.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response provides a clear overview and reports most major redevelopment features, though some spatial descriptions are inaccurate or incomplete.
Correct the description of the current gate area and mention the expanded terminal entrances to improve visual accuracy.
Coherence and Cohesion
Organising the report into the current layout and the future plan creates clear overall progression.
Order each paragraph consistently from the terminal entrance towards the gates so locations are easier to track.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for maps, but recurring collocational problems make several descriptions imprecise.
Replace awkward expressions such as altered sweepingly and facilities being extended with direct map language such as redesigned, added, or located.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence structures, but article, relative-clause, and agreement errors recur despite meaning remaining clear.
Edit complex clauses carefully, especially removing the extra pronoun in which it would be surrounded and checking articles before singular nouns.
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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.