Writing Task 1: Map / Plan (change over time): Question 9
Syllabus W.task1
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.
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Worked solution
Examiner notes: why this is a band 9 response
Task Achievement
The overview separates the site into what expanded (buildings, sports facilities, car park) and what stayed constant (the field), which the body paragraphs then confirm feature by feature; every change and non-change from both maps is reported, with the smaller playground correctly framed as a consequence of the sports hall rather than a separate, unexplained change.
Coherence & Cohesion
The response moves in a clear spatial and chronological order, from the original 2002 layout, through the new buildings, to the treatment of the field and car park, using time contrasts (“in 2002… by 2022”) and precise referencing (“its perimeter”, “the enlarged car park”) to keep each sentence tied to the one before it.
Lexical Resource
Location and construction vocabulary is used accurately and without repetition (“connected by a covered walkway”, “resurfaced as a multi-use games area”, “extended eastward”), matching the register expected of an intermediate-to-higher band 9 report.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Past simple and past perfect combine correctly to show sequence (“had been added”, “was built”), and passive structures are used consistently and accurately to describe changes made to the site, with concessive linking (“though a running track was added”) handled without error.
Common pitfalls specific to this task
See commonMistakes above: the most damaging is placing the new sports hall on the sports field itself rather than on part of the original playground. The two areas are shown as distinct on both maps, and confusing them misreports which parts of the site actually changed.