IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Library Then & Now Map (Band 9 Sample)
This Academic Task 1 asks you to compare two plans of a public library, twenty years ago and today. A band-9 response gives an overview of how the library's purpose has shifted, then reports the specific changes room by room. Below is a model answer of roughly 185 words, followed by why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
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01 · The task
The two plans below show a public library twenty years ago and how it looks today. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
02 · Band 9 sample answer
187 words · Band 9The two floor plans compare the layout of a public library as it was twenty years ago with how the same building is arranged today.
Overall, the library has shifted from a traditional, book-focused space into a more social and technology-oriented one. The quiet study and physical-media areas have largely disappeared, giving way to computers, self-service facilities and rooms for events.
Twenty years ago, the entrance opened onto a central area of tables and chairs, flanked by adult fiction and non-fiction sections. In the far corners sat a room for CDs, videos and computer games, a children's book area, a reading room for newspapers and magazines, and an enquiry desk. Today, that central seating and the media room have both been removed.
In their place, the modern library offers a café and a computer room where the reading room and enquiry desk once stood. The former non-fiction area now houses a lecture room and an information desk with self-service machines, while the children's section has been enlarged into a storytelling area furnished with sofas. Reference books, meanwhile, have been consolidated into a single space.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
The response captures the overall shift in the overview (a book-focused space becoming social and technology-oriented) and then reports the specific room-by-room changes — the media room and central seating removed, a café, computer room, lecture room and self-service machines added. It selects the meaningful changes rather than listing every item.
The report is organised as introduction, overview, then the old layout followed by the new. Cohesion is natural — "Twenty years ago", "Today", "In their place", "meanwhile" — and each new feature is located relative to what it replaced ("where the reading room and enquiry desk once stood"), which makes the transformation easy to follow.
Plan-description vocabulary is precise and varied — "opened onto", "flanked by", "given way to", "has been enlarged", "consolidated into a single space" — and the change from books to technology is captured with accurate, non-repetitive phrasing.
The present perfect passive is used correctly to describe the changes ("have been removed", "has been enlarged", "have been consolidated"), which suits a then-and-now comparison. A relative clause of place ("a computer room where the reading room once stood") adds range, and the writing stays error-free.
04 · Useful collocations for this task
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural collocations like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
05 · Frequently asked questions
What tense should I use to compare a place then and now?
Use past tenses for the older plan ("the entrance opened onto..."), present tenses for the current one ("the library offers a café"), and the present perfect passive for the changes ("the media room has been removed"). Keeping the time frames distinct is essential.
How do I locate features clearly on a plan?
Describe each new feature relative to what it replaced or to fixed points like the entrance ("a computer room where the reading room once stood"). This anchors the reader, who cannot assume they picture the plan exactly as you do.
Should I mention things that did not change?
Only briefly, if at all. Task 1 rewards reporting the main changes, so focus on what was added, removed or moved. A short note that something remained (if notable) is fine, but do not spend long on unchanged features.
How long should a Task 1 answer be?
At least 150 words; a band-9 answer is usually 170–200. This model is 187 words, enough to give an overview and report the key changes without listing every shelf. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1.
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