The map below shows the changes that have taken palce at the waterfront area of a town calles Darwin between 2009 and 2014.
Sample Response
The maps illustrate how a waterfront area of a town called
Darwin changed from 2009 to 2014.
Overall, the most significant changes can be seen in the central area of the town, where all of the industrial areas were removed, and thereafter the town was redeveloped for residential, educational and recreational usesmainly used for residential purposes. Meanwhile, most of the facilities surrounding the lake remained unchanged.
Over the course of five years, the school, convention center, fishing area to the eastnorth and the two existing swimming poolsthe two swimming pools to the south of the lake remained intact. In the southern area, a footpath stretching from the western main road has been constructed providing access to the harbour. A third swimming pool was also addedconstructed between the lake and the school, replacing the industrial area previously located there.
On the western side of the area, a university building was constructednew building was built for university education, while three new residential blocksthree new blocks of residential buildings were erected, bringing the total number of residential blocks to sixraising the total number of buildings to six. The area to the south, previously an industrial area, was replaced with vegetation.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear, well-organized account of the redevelopment and uses precise language to highlight both removals and additions. Its main limitation is a small degree of spatial and temporal imprecision, particularly describing both retained pools as south of the lake and implying the entire harbour footpath was new. Refine these details by distinguishing retained features from extensions and locating changes more exactly.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response presents a strong overview and covers almost all major retained, removed, and added features, with only minor spatial imprecision.
State that the existing footpath was extended to the harbour and locate the retained swimming pools more precisely around the lake.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from unchanged features to additions and land-use changes, with clear paragraphing and controlled cohesion.
Keep closely related location details together so each comparison between 2009 and 2014 is immediately traceable.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise range, including remained intact, erected, and vegetation, describes the map naturally with strong control.
Refine spatial phrasing further by distinguishing west, northeast, and southeast positions around the lake.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures accurately, with only minor tense and punctuation lapses that do not impede communication.
Maintain consistent past tense for completed changes and add punctuation where participial clauses could otherwise read ambiguously.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The map below shows the changes that have taken palce at the waterfront area of a town calles Darwin between 2009 and 2014.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.