IELTS Writing Task 1 Maps
Map tasks usually show the same place at two times, so the report is about change: what was built, removed, replaced, extended or turned into something else. Location language matters too: to the north of, next to, in the centre.
Start the overview with the general change (the town centre became more pedestrian-friendly), then describe the specific changes in a logical order, for example north to south.
The maps below show the centre of a town called Millbrook in 2000 and today. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Data invented for practice.
How to structure it
- 1
Introduction
What the maps show and the two times.
- 2
Overview
The general direction of change: fewer cars, more shopping and public facilities, with the market square kept.
- 3
Body 1
The north of the centre: car park and library.
- 4
Body 2
The main road and the south: pedestrian zone, shops and bus station.
The maps compare the layout of Millbrook town centre in 2000 with its layout today.
Overall, the centre has been redeveloped to reduce traffic and provide more shopping and public facilities. The only feature that has remained unchanged is the market square.
In the northern part of the centre, the car park that occupied the north-west corner in 2000 has been replaced by a shopping centre. Next to it, the library has been extended and converted into a larger community centre, taking up more of the north-east corner than before.
The most striking change is that Main Road, which used to run through the middle of the town from east to west, has been closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian zone. To the south of this, the market square still occupies the south-west corner, but the row of small shops opposite has been demolished to make way for a bus station, which now occupies the whole of the south-east corner.
Why it scores Band 8: Precise change language in the present perfect passive (has been replaced, converted, demolished to make way for), clear location phrases and a logical north-to-south organisation. 162 words.
Band is our estimate against the public IELTS Writing band descriptors.
Language that does the work
- has been replaced by / converted into
- For changes of use.
- was demolished to make way for
- When one thing is removed for another.
- has been extended / expanded
- When something gets bigger.
- to the north of / opposite / next to
- Location language.
- used to run / occupied
- Describing the old map.
- remained unchanged
- For features that stayed the same.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Describing map 1 completely, then map 2. Compare area by area.
- Mixing up tenses: use past for the old map and present perfect for what has changed.
- Vague location ("in one place there is a bus station"). Use compass directions.
Practise it: 13 Cambridge tests with a Task 1 like this
Each one opens the full Cambridge Writing test on Langujet, timed, with an AI band for each criterion. 10 free corrections a day.