IELTS Writing · Task 1 · Redesigned Spaces

Before you start

20 minutes from the moment you press Start. The clock doesn’t stop at 20:00 – it goes on in amber, so you see how long you really needed.
At least 150 words, four paragraphs: introduction, overview, body 1, body 2 (the overview may also come last).
No help: no sentence frames, no model answer, no spellcheck, no click-to-translate.
The plans are new, but the topic is the same as in Practice: a building before and after a redesign.

On computer or on paper?

IELTS is offered in both formats, and you choose one when you book the test. On computer, the screen shows a word count, there is no spellcheck, and one clock runs for the whole Writing test – 60 minutes for both tasks. On paper, you count words yourself, and most people write more slowly by hand than they type. Practise in the format you are going to take.

You are on a phone. For the computer format, open this page on a computer: typing on a phone is much slower and doesn’t prepare you for a real keyboard. For the paper format, the phone is fine.

Welcome back – the clock goes on from where it stopped.

The 20 minutes are over. Finish your sentence and press Finish – in the real exam, you would now move on to Task 2.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The plans below show a café in a city museum before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Swipe the plans sideways to see all of them.

Write your answer by hand on a sheet of paper.
Watch the clock. At the end, count your words: about 10 words per handwritten line.
Press Finish when you are done.

You have written fewer than 150 words. In the exam, this loses marks for Task Achievement.

Type in your answer

The clock has stopped. Type your handwritten answer here exactly as you wrote it – mistakes included – so that your teacher can check it and you get the Quick check. Or skip this step and send a photo of your page to your teacher.

words

Your answer

Quick check

Check your own answer

My introduction is in my own words, not copied from the task.My overview gives the main changes (and what stayed the same), with no details.In each body paragraph I compared before and now – not one plan after the other.I said where each change is: in the north-east corner, next to the entrance…I mixed passive verbs (has been converted) with active ones (now occupies) and spelt the participles right.No opinion and no reasons; a summary at the end gives the main changes only.

Model answer

IntroductionThe two plans illustrate the changes that were made to a museum café when it was redesigned, comparing its earlier layout with its current one.

OverviewOverall, the café has become more varied and family-friendly: food is now served at several points rather than one, and a play area and an outdoor terrace have been introduced. The kitchen, the toilets and the main seating area, by contrast, have stayed the same.

Body 1Originally, all food and drinks were served from a single counter in front of the kitchen, in the north-west of the café. This counter now serves only hot meals, while a new sandwich bar has been installed along the west wall. In the south-west corner, the cloakroom has been converted into a room with lockers.

Body 2On the eastern side, next to the entrance from the museum, the gift shop has been reduced to half its former size to make way for a children’s play area. The toilets in the south-east corner remain unchanged. Finally, the lawn that used to lie to the south of the building has given way to a terrace with outdoor tables.

185 words