What the task really is
You get two maps of the same place at different times — usually a town, an island or a site — and you have twenty minutes and at least 150 words.
The instruction says select and report the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. On a map, the comparison is the whole point: what is being reported is not the place, it is the change.
Organise by what changed, not by which map.
The language of change
Almost everything on a map does one of five things. Learn one phrase for each and the task becomes mechanical.
| What happened | Language |
|---|---|
| Something new appeared | A car park was built / was constructed / has been added. · A hotel now stands where the cottages were. |
| Something disappeared | The forest was cleared. · The cottages were demolished / have been replaced by… |
| Something became something else | The farmland was converted into a golf course. · The school has been turned into apartments. |
| Something got bigger or smaller | The woodland was reduced in size. · The town was extended to the north. |
| Something stayed the same | The river remained unchanged. · The church was left intact. |
The passive is doing the work again, for the same reason as in a process diagram: nobody is named on the map, so the forest was cleared is right and they cleared the forest invents an actor. And it earns you a complex structure at the same time.
Location language — the part most people lack
You cannot describe a map without saying where, and this is where scripts fall apart. It is worth ten minutes to learn properly, because it is the same handful of phrases every single time.
| Where | How to say it |
|---|---|
| Compass | in the north of the site · to the south-east · along the western edge |
| Relative | to the left/right of… · opposite · adjacent to · next to · beside |
| Between and around | between the road and the river · surrounded by woodland · on either side of |
| Distance | a short distance from · just outside · on the outskirts of |
| Along a feature | along the coast · on the banks of the river · running through the centre |
Two conventions that catch people out: the top of the map is north unless told otherwise, and in the north-east is preferred to in the top right corner, which reads as informal.
The overview: what happened to this place
As always, the overview is where the band is, and omitting it caps Task Achievement. On a map it should answer: what is the story of this place?
Almost every map task has one of a few stories. Say which one it is:
- It became more developed / urbanised — buildings replaced nature.
- It became more industrial or, conversely, more residential.
- It was turned into a tourist site or a leisure facility.
- It grew — the settlement expanded in a particular direction.
Weak: "The maps show a village in 1990 and 2020." — a restatement of the title.
Strong: "Overall, the village was transformed from a small agricultural settlement into a tourist destination. Most of the farmland was built on, and the only features that survived the period were the church and the river."
The structure
- Introduction (1 sentence). Paraphrase the title; never copy it.
- Overview (2 sentences). The story of the place, and what survived.
- Body 1. One region or one type of change — say, everything that happened in the north, or everything that was built.
- Body 2. The rest, including what remained unchanged.
Tenses. If both maps are in the past, use the past passive (was built). If one is the present or the future, use the appropriate tense — a proposed future map takes will be built or is going to be. Getting this wrong is a straightforward grammar loss, and it is easy to avoid: check the dates before you start.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Describing map one, then map two. Organise by change, not by picture.
- No overview. The most expensive omission in Task 1.
- Vague location. It was on the other side tells the reader nothing.
- Inventing an actor. The council built a car park. The map did not say that.
- Ignoring what stayed the same. It is a main feature and it is a free sentence.
Frequently asked questions
How do I structure an IELTS map answer?
Organise by what changed, not by which map. Writing one paragraph about the earlier map and one about the later one produces two descriptions with the comparison left for the reader to make — and the comparison is the task. Group your body paragraphs by region or by type of change instead.
Which tense should I use for IELTS map questions?
It depends on the dates. Two past maps take the past passive — 'a car park was built'. If one map is a proposal for the future, use 'will be built' or 'is going to be'. Check the dates before you write a word; getting this wrong is an easy grammar loss.
Do I need to mention things that did not change?
Yes, and almost nobody does. The instruction asks you to select and report the main features, and something that survived the whole period is a main feature — 'the river remained unchanged' is a real observation and an easy sentence.
How do I describe where things are on the map?
Use compass directions rather than 'the top right corner', which reads as informal — the top of the map is north unless stated otherwise. Then add relative language: opposite, adjacent to, on the outskirts of, along the banks of. It is the same handful of phrases in every map task, so it is worth learning them properly once.