The two maps below show an island, before and after the construction of some tourist facilities.
Sample Response
Two maps of an island illustrate how the island changed between the two periodsillustrate the differences before and after the construction of tourist facilitiesnumerous constructions for tourists. We can see that a largely undeveloped islanda bare island was substantially developednotably transformed to accommodate touristsfacilitate visiting tourists and the existing trees were retainedit did not alter the natural composition of the island. Many tourist facilitiesIt can be seen that many tourist facilities were built on the islandadded to the surface of the island. It is now available for tourists to go for swimming near the beach on foot and it connects the seashore with the accommodation and an area closed to the island centre. Next to that area, there is a reception block which lies between a restaurant that is in the north of the island and the vehicle track leads to the pier where people can go for sailing boats. In additionBesides, many accommodation unitsmany accommodations were built to accommodate touristswere constructed to let travellers stay on the island and the majority of the cottagesmajority of the cottages are near the beach. OverallInterestingly, the new facilitiesthose constructions did not harm the natural featuresviews of the island.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response's strongest feature is its clear recognition that the formerly undeveloped island gained accommodation, a restaurant, reception, paths and a pier while retaining its trees. However, several spatial relationships are vague or inaccurate, and the single-paragraph presentation weakens the distinction between overview and detail. Prioritise a more precise account of the two accommodation clusters and their footpaths, separating the overall transformation from location-by-location supporting details.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A relevant overview and most major additions are identified, but the two accommodation areas and some connections are described incompletely or inaccurately.
Describe the western and central accommodation clusters separately, noting their footpath links, and avoid unsupported claims about sailing or where most cottages are located.
Coherence and Cohesion
The description moves broadly from the overall change to individual facilities, but placing the entire response in one paragraph and using unclear references weakens progression.
Use separate introduction, overview and detail paragraphs, and name each location directly instead of relying on phrases such as 'that area'.
Lexical Resource
There is enough vocabulary to describe development and location, including several less common items, though awkward collocations reduce precision.
Prefer standard map language such as 'was developed', 'is linked by a footpath' and 'lies to the north of' over vague expressions about constructions and the island's surface.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex structures, but faulty relative clauses, missing articles and overloaded sentences recur.
Separate long descriptions into shorter comparative sentences and check article use in phrases such as 'the majority of the cottages'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The two maps below show an island, before and after the construction of some tourist facilities.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.