Office building, now and in future: IELTS Task 1 answer #6, band 6.0
A student’s answer to this repeated IELTS question, shared without their name and marked by Axiom on the four criteria. Select a highlighted passage to see how it could be revised, and why.
254 words. Marked by Axiom on 4 March 2026. Estimated by AI. It isn’t an official IELTS score.
The plan this answer describes
Present Office Building
- Four offices lie along the lower side.
- Kitchen, canteen and storeroom occupy the upper side, with WCs near the right and grass strips on both sides.
Future Office Building
- There are still four office rooms: two upper offices and two larger lower offices.
- Kitchen and Canteen labels disappear; the storeroom remains.
- The grass areas become outdoor seating on the left and meeting space on the right; WCs move and a coffee machine is shown.
Academic Task 1254 words
The maps show the changes of an office building between the present and the future.
The picture delineates the current position of office building and how will it look like in the future.
It is obviously shown that, building is expected to alter and relocate its facilities completely and replace some existing structures with new ones in order to expand its uses.
To begin with, at present, both west and east sides of the office are covered with greenery, and in the north side of the building, kitchen, cafeteria and warehouse are situated in a row. Besides, there is a washroom locating the corner of the storeroom and grass area in the east part. Four small office rooms are located in the south side, and the entrance to the building is right next to these buildings, between last office from west and the south greenery space.
When it comes to the further plans for arrangements of the rooms and building inside the office, initial major change will be removing both grass areas. Instead of west greenery area, in the future, seats and chairs will be available for outdoor activities. Meeting areas and coffee machines will be added in the empties east side, and washroom will be relocated and moved to the north east corner of construction. While size and location of storeroom will remain steady, kitchen and canteen will be out of use and will be replaced with office rooms. Position of entrance will also be moved to the centre of south side and there will be only 2 enlarged office rooms left, to the two sides of entrance.
No passages are highlighted in this essay.
What Axiom wrote for each criterion: why the answer earned its band, and what to work on next.
Coherence & cohesion
Band 6.0/ 9
Overall progression is clear and the essay compares present and future layouts in a generally logical way. There is a brief overview, but it is not very clear or well-focused. Paragraphing is mostly appropriate, though some sentences are long and contain too many ideas, which reduces clarity. Some referencing and sequencing are awkward, and there is occasional repetition.
Suggestions
- Clarify the overview by summarising the main changes in one or two clear sentences.
- Use clear paragraphing: one paragraph for the present layout and one for the future layout, plus introduction and overview.
- Avoid very long sentences with multiple clauses; split them into shorter, clearer sentences.
- Use more comparative language (e.g. 'whereas', 'while', 'in contrast') to highlight differences between present and future layouts.
- Ensure spatial descriptions (north, south, east, west) are consistent and not overused when not necessary.
Sentence revisions 3
Revised"The maps illustrate the current layout of an office building and the planned changes to its layout in the future."
Improves clarity, uses the correct task description ('maps illustrate'), and removes the question-word order error in a statement.
Revised"Overall, the building will undergo a complete reorganisation, with several facilities being relocated or replaced to expand its functions."
Provides a clearer overview and removes unnecessary wording such as 'it is obviously shown that'.
Revised"Regarding the planned changes, the first major alteration will be the removal of both grass areas."
Shortens and clarifies the topic sentence, improving cohesion and readability.
Grammar & accuracy
Band 6.0/ 9
A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is attempted, showing some range. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in articles, prepositions, word order, and agreement (e.g. 'position of office building', 'how will it look like', 'there is a washroom locating', 'initial major change will be removing'). Punctuation is sometimes incorrect, and some sentences are run-ons. Despite errors, meaning is generally clear.
Sentence revisions 3
Revised"The maps illustrate the current layout of the office building and how it will look in the future."
Adds the necessary article 'the', corrects word order in the second clause, and improves overall grammatical accuracy.
Revised"In addition, there is a washroom located at the corner between the storeroom and the grass area on the eastern side."
Corrects the verb form ('located' instead of 'locating'), adds necessary prepositions and articles, and clarifies the spatial relationship.
Revised"The position of the entrance will also be moved to the centre of the southern side, and there will be only two enlarged offices remaining, one on each side of the entrance."
Adds missing articles, spells out the number, and restructures the sentence for grammatical accuracy and clarity.
Lexical resource
Band 6.0/ 9
A range of vocabulary is used (e.g. 'delineates', 'relocate', 'facilities', 'expand its uses'), showing some flexibility. However, there are several collocation errors and unnatural phrases (e.g. 'current position of office building', 'empties east side', 'remain steady'). Some repetition of basic words such as 'building', 'office', and 'area' occurs. Word choice is sometimes imprecise or informal.
Sentence revisions 3
Revised"The maps show the current layout of the office building"
Uses more natural collocations: 'maps show' and 'layout of the office building' are standard for Task 1.
Revised"A meeting area and a coffee machine will be added to the previously unused east side"
Replaces incorrect phrase 'empties east side' with a natural expression and matches the map, which shows one meeting area and one coffee machine.
Revised"The size and location of the storeroom will remain unchanged"
Uses the more natural collocation 'remain unchanged' instead of 'remain steady' for describing layout.
Task achievement
Band 6.0/ 9
The response addresses the task by describing both the present and future layouts and mentioning several key changes, such as removal of grass areas, relocation of the entrance, and conversion of the kitchen and canteen into offices. An overview is present but could be clearer and more focused on the most significant changes. Some details are slightly inaccurate or vague (e.g. 'meeting areas and coffee machines' instead of a single meeting area and one coffee machine). Coverage is generally adequate but not fully precise or well-prioritised.
Suggestions
- Make the overview more explicit by clearly stating the main trends, such as the replacement of green areas with seating and meeting spaces, and the reduction in the number of offices but increase in their size.
- Ensure all descriptions match the map exactly (e.g. one meeting area, one coffee machine, two offices in the south).
- Highlight the most important changes rather than listing every feature; focus on major structural changes and functional shifts.
- Avoid speculative language about reasons (e.g. 'in order to expand its uses') unless clearly supported by the diagram; focus on what is shown.
- Include a brief comparative statement summarising how the function of the building changes from more greenery and smaller offices to more communal and larger office spaces.
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