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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 7.0 Example

Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.

229 words AcademicTask 1Map
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Separate features that remain from those that have been added, relocated or replaced; the business units and car park remain, while the IT centre gives way to an innovation centre.
  • Describe the shift in land use: open grassland in the northwest is now substantially developed, while trees remain in the southwest.
  • Treat transport access as a key change, noting the cycle path, station and bus stop, while also mentioning the railway that continues to border the site.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the maps and identify the time comparison.
  2. Give an overview of the most important changes: redevelopment and improved access.
  3. Describe the 2008 arrangement by area, covering open land and existing facilities.
  4. Compare the current layout, highlighting retained and replaced buildings.
  5. Finish with access changes and any transport feature that remains.
Useful vocabulary & examples
give way to
to be replaced by something new

The IT centre has given way to an innovation centre.

remain in broadly similar positions
to stay in approximately the same locations

The business units remain in broadly similar positions.

be concentrated in
to be located mainly within a particular area

Woodland was concentrated in the southwest.

border the site
to run along the edge of an area

The railway continues to border the site to the east.

Task Prompt

The maps below show a science park in 2008 and the same park today. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 7.0

The maps detail alterations that have been made to a science park between 2008 and today.From an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the park has expanded to include more areas for research, education and improved accessibility. The area around the park seems to have been undeveloped and includes a considerable amount of grass-land, while the park itself has undergone substantial redevelopment. In 2008, grassland occupied much of the northern section, with woodland scattered around it. Offices and a reception were situated in the northeast, while business units lay west of the central car park. The IT centre was in the southwest, and cyber security facilities occupied the southeast. A railway ran along the southern edge, and paths connected the facilities.

Today, the northern grassland has been replaced by research and development facilities, and the former reception area has become a university hub below the offices. The business units remain in the west and the car park near the centre, although their positions appear broadly similar. The IT centre has been replaced by an innovation centre, while cyber security remains in the southeast. The park has also gained a station on its southern boundary and a cycle path along its eastern side, as well as a bus stop nearby. Overall, the park retains some of its original functions but now offers more specialised facilities and transport links.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Make the overview describe the park itself—for example, its shift from grassland and older facilities to research, education and transport facilities—rather than making a broad claim about the surrounding area.
2
Compare the same locations across the maps: describe the northern area, central facilities and southern edge in matched pairs.
3
Leave two minutes to check sentence spacing and compound-word spelling, particularly “today.From” and “grass-land.”

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