An IELTS Writing Task 1 map task asks you to compare one place at two points in time, or a present map against a planned future one, in at least 150 words and about 20 minutes. The task sits in the Academic Writing paper, which lasts 60 minutes in total, and it is marked on Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Map answers draw on a small, predictable set of language, so they respond well to systematic practice.
Because Task 1 is an information-transfer task tied to the factual content of the visual, a map answer stays within what the two maps show. The language does most of the work: compass points orient the reader, passive verbs report change, and prepositions fix each feature in place. A model answer for a village centre brings these together in under 200 words.
What does a Writing Task 1 map task look like?
A map task shows a place at two different dates and asks you to describe and compare it in writing. The map can show an outdoor area with buildings, roads and nature, or an indoor space such as a floor plan. The maps may show two past dates, a past map beside a present one, or a present map beside a planned future layout.
Maps are generally used to make candidates compare two or more maps from different time periods, so the skill being tested is selecting the main features and reporting the differences between them. Your answer needs at least 150 words, written in about 20 minutes, which leaves time for Task 2 within the 60-minute paper. Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score.
The dates on the maps decide your tenses. Two past dates take the past simple throughout. A past map compared with a present one moves from the past simple to the present simple or present perfect. A planned layout takes will with a passive verb, as in the car park will be extended, because the changes have not yet happened.
How do you orient a map description with compass points?
Orientation starts with finding north, because every direction word in your answer depends on it. Check the compass symbol on the map before writing a single direction, since reversing east and west changes the meaning of every sentence that follows.
Compass words work in three forms: as nouns after in (in the north), as adjectives before a noun (the north-western corner) and inside to the... of (to the north of the green). Choose a fixed order of zones, for example clockwise from the north-west, and keep the same order when you describe the second map, so that every change sits next to the feature it affects.
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Enquire about this tutorHow do you write the overview for a map?
The overview states the biggest changes in one or two sentences, without detail. Compare the two maps for the overall direction, such as more building, loss of green space, a shift from farming to housing or a move from public to commercial use, then name the features that changed most and note what stayed the same.
Place the overview directly after the introduction, or just before the detailed paragraphs, so that the examiner meets it early. Task Achievement rewards identifying principal changes and highlighting trends instead of mechanical description of detail, and an overview built on the main changes is the clearest evidence of that skill. An example is: Overall, the village became more commercial and more densely populated, whilst the green remained the focal point.
Which language describes development and change on a map?
Passive verbs suit map changes because the maps show what happened to buildings and land, and the people responsible are unknown. The same verbs shift to will be for a planned map, as in the farm will be demolished and will be replaced by a supermarket.
Nouns vary the grammar and help Grammatical Range and Accuracy: the demolition of the farm, the construction of a supermarket, the extension of the school. Comparison phrases for the whole place include the main differences, significant or major changes, small or minor changes, increased in size, over the course of the decades, and the south saw the most change. Synonyms such as knocked down and demolished add range to Lexical Resource.
- was demolished or was knocked down: a building is removed
- was replaced by: a new feature occupies the same site
- was extended or was expanded: a feature is made larger
- was converted into: the same building has a new use
- was cleared to make way for: land is emptied for development
- was built, was constructed or was added: a new feature appears
- remained unchanged or stayed the same: no change
Model answer: Village centre before and after redevelopment
Task: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The two maps show the centre of the village of Marlow Green before and after redevelopment. Map 1 (before): a main road runs from east to west along the northern edge. A primary school stands in the north-west, a farm occupies the south-west corner and an orchard lies in the south-east. Three houses are in the north-east. In the centre, a post office faces a village green, with a pond immediately south of the green. Map 2 (after): the main road is unchanged, with a bus stop outside the school. The school is larger and extends towards the south. A supermarket and car park fill the south-west corner, and twelve houses stand in the south-east. The post office is now a café, and a playground stands where the pond was. The village green and the three houses in the north-east remain. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
"The maps illustrate how the centre of Marlow Green changed after a redevelopment programme. The village became more commercial and more densely populated, whilst the green remained the focal point.
"Originally, a main road ran from east to west along the northern edge of the village. A primary school stood in the north-west, a farm occupied the south-west corner, and an orchard lay in the south-east. Three houses were located in the north-east, and a post office faced the village green in the centre, with a pond immediately to the south of it.
"After the redevelopment, the farm was demolished and replaced by a supermarket with a car park, whilst the orchard was cleared to make way for twelve new houses. The school was extended towards the south, and the post office was converted into a café. The pond was filled in and a playground was built in its place. A bus stop was added on the main road, outside the school, and the village green and the three houses in the north-east were left unchanged. As a result, the south, previously farmland and orchard, became residential and commercial land.
What this model answer does:
- Task Achievement: the overview names the two largest shifts (more commercial, more densely populated) and the unchanged green, so the main features are selected before any detail appears.
- Coherence and Cohesion: the first body paragraph covers the earlier map and the second covers the later one, so each change can be matched to its original feature.
- Lexical Resource: demolished, replaced by, cleared to make way for, converted into and filled in vary the vocabulary of change instead of repeating one verb.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: past passive forms sit beside active clauses and whilst-clauses, and the past simple matches the dates on the maps.
How do you describe location precisely on a map?
Precise location combines a compass point, a relational preposition and a landmark. Useful prepositions include to the north of, next to, beside, adjacent to, opposite, between, on the corner of, in the centre of, along the road and at the junction. Give a new feature its position the first time it appears, and use the same landmark when you mention it again.
Features that appear on both maps, such as a river, a main road or a village green, work as anchors, so that every change is described relative to something the reader can see twice. For example: the farm in the south-west was replaced by a supermarket facing the main road. Varying next to, beside and adjacent to shows the range of general vocabulary that Lexical Resource assesses.
What are the common mistakes in map answers?
Most map errors come from tense, direction, organisation and scope, and each can be checked in the final minutes. Scripts may also be penalised if they are partly or wholly plagiarised, so memorised templates need adapting to the actual maps, and bullet points or note form are inappropriate because a response should be full, connected text.
- Using a tense that does not match the dates on the maps.
- Reversing compass points after misreading the compass symbol.
- Describing every item in the order it appears, which hides the main changes.
- Leaving out the overview, or filling it with detail.
- Explaining why a change happened when the maps give no reason.
- Writing they knocked down the farm instead of the farm was demolished.
- Repeating was built in every sentence, which limits vocabulary range.
How should you practise map tasks?
Practise in a fixed order: language first, then overviews, then timed full answers, then marking against the four published criteria. Begin by writing sentences about a place you know, such as your own street, comparing how it looked with how it looks now or will look, using ten passive change verbs, ten location phrases and the comparison phrases above.
Next, take any two-map task and write only the introduction and overview, repeating with different maps until the main changes are easy to spot. Then write full answers of at least 150 words in 20 minutes and mark each one against the criteria, keeping a list of the errors that recur and rewriting one paragraph after each marking session.
- Task Achievement: key features selected, an overview present, comparisons made, nothing speculative.
- Coherence and Cohesion: logical order of zones, clear paragraphing, reference words and linking words.
- Lexical Resource: synonyms, accurate collocations, correct spelling.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences, correct tenses and passive forms, accurate punctuation.
Related guides
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- Task 1 process diagram model answer
- IELTS General Training letter (Task 1)
- IELTS Writing Task 2 essays
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Frequently asked questions
- Is a map answer different from a chart answer?
- A map answer compares features and positions instead of figures and trends, so there are no numbers to report. The same four criteria apply, and the same skills are rewarded: selecting key features, giving enough detail to illustrate them, comparing the two maps and presenting the response in an appropriate format. Position words and change verbs replace the language of increase and decrease.
- Is it better to describe each map separately or compare them together?
- Either structure works if the organisation is logical. One option describes the earlier map and then the later map, using the same order of zones. The other takes each zone in turn and reports what it held and what it holds now. Whichever you choose, the Coherence and Cohesion criterion looks for clear paragraphing and logical sequencing within and across paragraphs.
- Why did the village change?
- Reasons for the changes should be left out. Task 1 relates narrowly to the factual content of the visual, and the assessment criteria say it is not for speculative explanations that lie outside the given data. Report what the maps show, such as a farm replaced by a supermarket, and leave out guesses about population growth or planning decisions.
- What happens if a candidate writes more than 150 words?
- The task sets 150 words as a minimum, and a longer Task 1 may leave less time for Task 2, which contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score. A map answer with an overview and two focused body paragraphs usually fits comfortably within the 20 minutes suggested, with a minute or two left to check tenses and directions.
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