Writing Task 1: Map / Plan (change over time): IELTS Academic 9990 (IELTS Academic)

The two maps below show the coastal town of Portbray in 2003 and 2023. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Portbray in 2003

Harbour Road ran along the coast from west to east. A stone harbour, used by fishing boats, stood in the centre of the coastline, directly south of the middle of the road. A row of fishermen's cottages lined the western half of Harbour Road, immediately west of the harbour, and a single-storey grocery shop stood at the far western end of the road. A fish-processing warehouse occupied the coast immediately east of the harbour. North of Harbour Road, the land was entirely open farmland stretching to the northern edge of the town, crossed only by an unfinished dirt track that left the road beside the harbour.

Portbray in 2023

Harbour Road remains in the same position along the coast. The harbour has been converted into a marina, with the fishing boats replaced by yachts and small pleasure boats. The row of cottages west of the harbour has become a row of shops and cafés, and the grocery shop at the western end of the road has grown into a supermarket. The warehouse east of the harbour has been demolished and replaced by a large four-storey hotel on the same site, and a paved seafront promenade now runs the length of Harbour Road. The dirt track north of the harbour has been paved, renamed Station Road, and extended to a new housing estate that now covers most of the former farmland, with a small car park at the entrance to the estate.

The two maps below show the small island of Kelder in 2000 and 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Kelder Island in 2000

A lighthouse stood at the easternmost point of the island. On the northern coast, roughly halfway along it, a small fishing village consisted of a cluster of wooden huts and a short wooden jetty. Dense forest covered the whole of the central and southern parts of the island, from just south of the village down to the southern coast. Along the western coast lay a sandy beach, empty and undeveloped. A single dirt path led from the village, around the western edge of the forest, south to the beach. There was no airstrip and no other made road; the rest of the island could be reached only on foot.

Kelder Island in 2024

The lighthouse at the eastern tip remains unchanged. The fishing village on the north coast has been demolished and replaced by a resort hotel with a new pier in the same location. The dirt path from the hotel to the beach has been paved into a road. Much of the forest immediately south of the hotel has been cleared and replaced by a golf course occupying the centre of the island, with a strip of forest remaining only along the southern coast. The western beach has been developed with a line of beach huts and a beach bar. A new road runs from the resort hotel south-east, through the golf course, to a small airstrip built near the south-eastern coast, close to the lighthouse.

The two maps below show the village of Marsh Hollow in 1995 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Marsh Hollow in 1995

Marsh Hollow was a small village built around a crossroads where the north-south Church Road met the east-west Mill Lane. A small stone church stood on the north-west corner of the crossroads, and a primary school stood on the south-west corner. A row of about ten houses ran along the south side of Mill Lane, to the east of the crossroads. Beyond these houses, further east, there was open farmland, and the fields to the north of the crossroads, on both sides of Church Road, were also open farmland. There was no shop and no bus stop in the village.

Marsh Hollow in 2020

The stone church on the north-west corner of the crossroads is unchanged, and the primary school on the south-west corner has been enlarged with a new extension on its western side. The row of houses on the south side of Mill Lane has been extended eastward, with twenty new houses built on the same side of the road on what had been farmland. Most of the fields north of the crossroads, on both sides of Church Road, have become a new housing estate, with two side streets branching off Church Road, except for the north-east corner immediately beside the crossroads, where a small parade of shops, including a supermarket and a pharmacy, has been built instead. A bus stop has also been added on Mill Lane, outside the new shops.

The two plans below show the grounds of St Anwen's Hospital in 2008 and 2023. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

St Anwen's Hospital site in 2008

The site was bounded by Grove Road to the north and Elm Street to the east, with a river forming its southern boundary. A large three-storey main hospital building stood in the centre of the site. To its west stood a separate, older building, a Victorian-era wing used as a maternity unit. To its east, between the main building and Elm Street, was a helicopter landing pad. In the north-west corner of the site, fronting Grove Road, stood a small single-storey outpatients' clinic. Along the southern edge of the site, next to the river, was a car park with around 100 spaces. The only entrance to the site was from Grove Road, beside the outpatients' clinic.

St Anwen's Hospital site in 2023

Grove Road, Elm Street and the river remain in the same positions, and the main hospital building in the centre of the site is unchanged. The Victorian maternity wing to its west has been demolished and replaced by a new multi-storey car park on the same site. The original car park along the southern edge, beside the river, has been removed and replaced by a landscaped park with a footpath along the riverbank. The helicopter landing pad has been relocated from east of the main building to the north-east corner of the site, and a new outpatients' wing, connected to the main building by a covered walkway, has been built on the site of the old helipad. The single-storey outpatients' clinic in the north-west corner has been demolished and replaced by a staff accommodation block; the site entrance from Grove Road remains in the same place, beside the new staff block.

The two plans below show the campus of Ashcombe University in 2010 and 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Ashcombe University campus in 2010

The campus was bounded by the River Ash to the south and Faraday Avenue to the north. The Main Library stood at the centre of the campus. Immediately to its north, fronting Faraday Avenue, stood the Arts Building, the oldest building on campus. To the east of the Library was a single Science Building, housing all the science departments together. To the west of the Library lay a large open playing field, used for sports. Along the southern edge of the campus, beside the river, stood a row of three student residence halls. A small car park lay between the Science Building and the eastern boundary of the campus. The only entrance to the campus was from Faraday Avenue, beside the Arts Building.

Ashcombe University campus in 2024

The Arts Building, north of the Library, is unchanged. The Main Library has been extended, with a new wing added on its southern side. The single Science Building east of the Library has been replaced by two larger buildings standing side by side on the same site: a new Science Building and a new Engineering Building. The playing field west of the Library has been reduced in size, with a Student Centre and a Sports Hall built on its eastern half, so that the playing field now covers only the western half of its former area. The row of three residence halls along the southern edge, beside the river, has been extended with two additional halls, continuing eastward along the riverbank. The car park that stood between the Science Building and the eastern boundary has been relocated to a new multi-storey car park on the eastern boundary of the campus, beyond the new Engineering Building, and a second entrance has been added on the eastern boundary, next to the new car park, in addition to the original entrance from Faraday Avenue.

The maps below show the centre of the town of Fenmarsh in 1998 and in 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Map 1 (1998): Fenmarsh town centre is a roughly square area enclosed on all four sides by a ring road. Bridge Street runs from north to south through the middle of the town and was, in 1998, a two-way road with parking bays along both sides. In the north-west section, a row of shops faced onto Bridge Street. Directly opposite, in the north-east section, stood the Town Hall, with Fenmarsh Green, a small park, in front of it. Halfway along the west side of Bridge Street was a bus stop. In the south-west section was a surface car park, and in the south-east section stood a bank and a second row of shops. Bridge Street met the ring road at a roundabout at its northern end and at a second roundabout at its southern end.

Map 2 (2024): By 2024, the central section of Bridge Street, between the two roundabouts, had been closed to traffic and paved over as a pedestrianised precinct, with trees and benches installed along both sides. The parking bays and the bus stop that had stood on Bridge Street were removed; a new bus station was built on the ring road on the north side of the town. The surface car park in the south-west section was replaced by a multi-storey car park on the same site. A new row of shops was built on the east side of the pedestrianised street, facing the original shops in the north-west section. A cycle lane was added running around the inside of the ring road. The Town Hall, Fenmarsh Green and the bank in the south-east section remained in their original positions.

The maps below show Hollow Elms Farm in 1985 and the same site, renamed Hollow Elms Country Park, in 2015. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Map 1 (1985): Hollow Elms Farm occupies a rectangular plot of land bordered by a stream along its southern edge. The farmhouse stands in the north of the plot, with a group of barns and a farmyard immediately to its east. A single farm lane enters through a gate in the north boundary and runs south past the farmhouse to the barns. To the south of the farmhouse and lane, most of the southern half of the plot is arable land, used for growing crops. In the western half of the plot is a grazing field for animals, with a small pond in the centre of this field. A strip of woodland runs along the eastern boundary of the farm.

Map 2 (2015): By 2015, the farm had been converted into Hollow Elms Country Park. The farmhouse had been turned into a visitor centre and café, and the barns to its east had been demolished and replaced by a car park. The farm lane had been resurfaced as the main access road leading from the north gate to this car park. The arable land in the south had become open grassland, with a children's playground and picnic tables added. In the west, the pond had been enlarged into a lake, with a boardwalk trail built around its edge. The woodland along the eastern boundary remained in place, and a nature trail had been added running through it, connecting the car park to the lake.

The maps below show Marrowgate Docks in 1970 and the same site, renamed Marrowgate Quay, in 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Map 1 (1970): The docks form a rectangular harbour basin, open to the estuary on the north side. A row of warehouses lines the quay along the western side of the basin, and a fish market stands at the southern end of the quay, next to the harbour entrance road. To the east of the basin is a coal yard, with rail sidings running from it to a goods yard further east. Workers' terraced housing occupies the area to the south of the fish market and coal yard, across the harbour entrance road.

Map 2 (2020): The harbour basin itself remained in the same position, but the warehouses along the western quay had been converted into apartments, and a marina for pleasure boats had been built inside the basin, replacing the working fishing berths. The fish market at the southern end of the quay had been replaced by a row of restaurants and cafés facing the water. The coal yard and rail sidings to the east had been removed and replaced by a public park, with a promenade running along the water's edge from the apartments to the park. The terraced housing to the south of the old fish market site remained, though the harbour entrance road in front of it had been widened and a cycle path added alongside it.

The maps below show the site of Ashgrove Primary School in 2002 and in 2022. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Map 1 (2002): A single school building runs east to west along the northern edge of the plot, facing the road that borders the site to the north. A car park for staff is in the north-west corner of the site, with its entrance from the road. Immediately south of the school building is a tarmac playground, and south of the playground is a grass sports field, which extends to the southern boundary of the site. A hedge runs along the eastern and southern boundaries.

Map 2 (2022): A new classroom block had been built to the east of the original school building, joined to it by a covered walkway. A sports hall had been built on the northern part of the former playground, directly south of the original building, leaving a smaller playground area to its south, which had been resurfaced and marked out as a multi-use games area. The grass sports field remained in the same position, but a running track had been added around its perimeter. The car park in the north-west had been extended eastward along the road frontage, and the section of hedge nearest the road had been removed to make room for the additional parking spaces. A new reception entrance had been added to the school building, facing the enlarged car park.

The maps below show an area of open land at Cranmoor in 1990 and the same area, developed into the Cranmoor Rise housing estate, in 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Map 1 (1990): A large open field occupies most of the site, bordered by a country lane along its western edge and a stream along its eastern edge. A single farm track crosses the field from a gate on the lane in the west to a footbridge over the stream in the east. In the north-east corner of the field is a small area of woodland, and in the south-west corner, close to the lane, stands an isolated cottage.

Map 2 (2020): The farm track had become the estate's main road, running from a new junction on the lane in the west to a widened bridge over the stream in the east, and a network of smaller residential roads branched off it in a loop, lined with rows of houses. A primary school had been built close to the centre of the estate, and a small parade of shops had been built near the junction with the lane. The area of woodland in the north-east corner had been kept as a public park within the estate. The cottage in the south-west corner remained standing, now surrounded by new houses on three sides.