The diagrams below show changes in Felixstone in the UK between 1967 and 2001.
Sample Response
The given maps illustrate changes in the layout of Flexitone in the UK from 1967 to 2001.
Overall, several large changes were made to the town throughout the years, including the addition of new tourism facilities, and the removal of previous industry and infrastructure.
In 1967, there was a large farming area located behind the shops to the east of High Street. By 2001, this area had been completely redeveloped and replaced by a new hotel with a swimming pool and tennis courts. The land in front of this new hotel on the beachside, previously a fish market, was now a private beach.(1)
A large marina and pier once stood on the seafront of this town, however this was removed and replaced with a public beach. Other changes to the area include a wind turbine facility located to the south of the dunes, and the addition of a carpark facility to the hotel located along the beachfront.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct place name Original: Flexitone Suggested revision: Felixstone Why it matters: The place name must match the label in the visual prompt.
- 2. Remove unnecessary comma Original: facilities, and Suggested revision: facilities and Why it matters: The two coordinated including phrases do not require a comma before and.
- 3. Use map label Original: farming area Suggested revision: farmland Why it matters: Farmland is the precise label used for this area on the map.
- 4. Use precise location Original: beachside Suggested revision: seafront Why it matters: Seafront is the natural term for the coastal location shown.
- 5. Maintain past sequence Original: was now Suggested revision: had become Why it matters: The past perfect clearly marks the completed change by 2001.
- 6. Delete stray marker Original: (1) Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: This unexplained reference marker interrupts the report and has no corresponding note.
- 7. Match tense and plurality Original: include a wind turbine facility Suggested revision: included wind turbines Why it matters: The report needs past tense, and the map shows several wind turbines rather than one facility.
- 8. Use correct compound Original: carpark facility Suggested revision: car park Why it matters: Car park is the standard two-word term and facility is redundant.
- 9. Remove empty modifier Original: The given maps Suggested revision: The maps Why it matters: Given adds no meaning because the maps are already the stated subject.
- 10. Use precise adjective Original: large Suggested revision: major Why it matters: Major is the more natural adjective for significant developments in a map report.
- 11. Name the period Original: throughout the years Suggested revision: over the period Why it matters: This phrase refers more precisely to the two mapped dates.
- 12. Specify removed features Original: previous industry and infrastructure Suggested revision: the former fish market, marina and pier Why it matters: Naming the removed features makes the overview more firmly grounded in the maps.
Suggested Rewrites
- Flexitone Felixstone
- facilities, and facilities and
- farming area farmland
- beachside seafront
- was now had become
- (1) Delete
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is well organised and accurately describes several major transformations, particularly the new tourist facilities and the redevelopment of the eastern seafront. Its main weakness is incomplete coverage: the conversion of eastern shops to apartments and important unchanged features are not mentioned. Add a systematic comparison of both maps, selecting the most significant additions, removals, replacements, and continuities.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and several accurate major changes are presented, but the apartments replacing eastern shops and key unchanged features are omitted.
Include the shop-to-apartment conversion and briefly identify persistent features such as the golf course, western shops, dunes, and cafe.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a clear introduction-overview-detail structure and groups related developments logically, with generally effective referencing and progression.
Organise the details even more systematically by contrasting developments north of the road with changes along the seafront.
Lexical Resource
A flexible range of map-description vocabulary is used effectively, although Flexitone is misspelled and expressions such as carpark facility and beachside are less natural.
Use precise forms such as Felixstowe, car park, and on the seafront while avoiding repeated generic nouns such as area and facility.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex sentences are generally accurate, but tense inconsistency and a comma splice with however prevent consistently strong control.
Keep past-time descriptions consistent and use a full stop or semicolon before however when joining independent clauses.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The diagrams below show changes in Felixstone in the UK between 1967 and 2001.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.