Town Centre Map: 1990 vs Today
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 242 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
The two maps below show the town centre of Greenford in 1990 and at present. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. [Map Description — Greenford, 1990] - A railway line runs east–west along the northern edge of the map. - Greenford Station sits in the centre-north, beside the railway. - South of the station is a large open Market Square paved with cobblestones. - To the west of the square stands a single-storey Public Library. - To the east of the square is a small Post Office and a row of independent shops along the High Street, which runs south from the square. - A leafy Park with a duck pond occupies the south-west corner. - The south-east corner is undeveloped farmland. - A two-lane road circles the town centre. [Map Description — Greenford, Present] - The railway line and Greenford Station remain unchanged in the north. - The Market Square has been pedestrianised and now features a fountain at its centre. - The Public Library has been demolished; a four-storey Shopping Mall now occupies the site and extends further south. - The Post Office has been converted into a café; the independent shops on the High Street have been replaced by chain retailers. - The Park has been retained but the duck pond has been replaced by a children's playground. - The former farmland in the south-east is now a multi-storey Car Park serving the mall. - The two-lane circular road has been widened to four lanes and a roundabout has been added at the south-east entrance.
How to approach it
- 01Use past tenses for 1990 and present tenses for the current map, plus the present perfect for changes ('has been replaced')
- 02Organise by area or theme (north/south, retained/changed), not feature by feature
- 03Use the passive voice for changes when the agent is unknown: 'has been demolished', 'has been converted'
- 04Identify what has stayed the same as well as what has changed
- 05Use compass directions and location language: 'to the east of', 'in the south-west corner', 'extends further south'
- 06Don't simply list every change — group related changes and prioritise the most significant ones
Model answer
242 words in 5 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
The two maps illustrate the changes that have taken place in Greenford town centre between 1990 and the present day.
Overall, the area has undergone substantial commercial development and modernisation, with several historic features replaced by larger retail and transport infrastructure. The northern half has remained largely unchanged, while the southern half has been transformed.
To the north, the railway line and Greenford Station are still in their original positions. The Market Square has been preserved as a central feature, although it is now pedestrianised and a decorative fountain has been added where vehicles once passed. This has clearly enhanced the area's appeal as a public gathering space.
The most striking changes have occurred to the east and west of the square. The single-storey Public Library has been demolished and replaced by a much larger four-storey Shopping Mall, which extends well beyond the original library footprint. On the opposite side, the Post Office has been converted into a café, and the independent shops along the High Street have given way to chain retailers, suggesting a shift towards corporate commerce.
In the south, the leafy Park has been retained, though the duck pond has been replaced by a children's playground. Perhaps the most significant change is the conversion of the former farmland in the south-east into a multi-storey Car Park, accompanied by the widening of the circular road from two to four lanes and the addition of a roundabout, indicating substantially increased traffic.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 38 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
34.5 more than the median answer for this task type
12 words at the shortest, 43 at the longest
the same as the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 22 words and vary by 8.9 words either side of that, running from 12 words to 43. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 5 of the 11 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
5 in total, spread across 3 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
although, though, while
once
overall
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 91 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 83 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 10 words. That is long enough to notice. Copied wording is discounted from your word count, so a run this size is doing less work than it looks like it is doing.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Cover all key changes between the two maps and make clear comparisons
Coherence & Cohesion
Organise the description logically by area or theme with clear paragraphing
Lexical Resource
Use precise vocabulary for buildings, location and change
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Accurate use of passive voice and present perfect for describing change
You have read one model answer. Now get one marked.
Paste your own attempt at this question and get a band for each criterion, with the exact sentences costing you marks.
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