Cambridge IELTS 12 Test 2 Writing Task 1: Islip Town Centre Maps
Cambridge IELTS 12 · Test 2 · Academic Writing Task 1Map / plan
The two maps show the centre of a small town called Islip as it is now and as it will look after a planned redevelopment. Because the second map shows plans, the changes must be described with future or passive forms such as will be built or is to be replaced.
The question
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The maps below show the centre of a small town called Islip as it is now, and plans for its development. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
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Key features to report
- The biggest change is to traffic: the main road that currently runs east to west through the centre is to become a pedestrians-only street, and a dual carriageway will be built in a loop around the whole town centre.
- The countryside to the north of the main road will disappear. In its place, from west to east, there will be a bus station, a shopping centre, a car park and an area of new housing.
- At present there are two rows of shops, one on each side of the main road; under the plan only the southern row will remain, facing the new pedestrian street.
- The park in the south-east will be reduced to a much smaller area, and new housing will be built on part of the land it now occupies.
- Some features will stay the same: the existing housing in the south-west of the centre, the school in the south-west corner and the housing to the south, although the school and the southern housing will end up outside the ring road.
- The maps show plans, so a Band 7+ answer uses future and passive forms such as will be converted, is to be built and will be reduced, rather than the past tense.
Model overview
Overall, the plan will transform Islip into a pedestrian-friendly centre surrounded by a ring road, with the countryside to the north replaced by new facilities and housing. Most residential areas and the school will remain, but the town centre will become far more developed and less green.
Paragraph plan
- 1
Introduction
Paraphrase the task in one sentence: the maps illustrate the current layout of Islip town centre and the changes proposed for its future development.
- 2
Overview
State the two or three main changes without detail: traffic will be moved out of the centre onto a ring road, the main street will become pedestrianised, and the countryside will give way to new facilities and housing, while the school and most housing stay.
- 3
Body paragraph 1: roads and the town centre
Describe the current main road with shops on both sides, then the planned dual carriageway around the centre, the conversion of the main road into a pedestrians-only street and the loss of the northern row of shops.
- 4
Body paragraph 2: new buildings and what stays
Describe the new bus station, shopping centre, car park and new housing on the former countryside to the north, the smaller park with new housing beside it in the south-east, and the features that will not change: the school, the south-western housing and the housing to the south.
Useful comparisons
- Group the changes by type: transport (ring road, pedestrian street, bus station, car park) and land use (shops, housing, park).
- Contrast the open countryside in the north of the current map with the four new developments planned there.
- Compare the two rows of shops now with the single row planned along the pedestrian street.
- Compare the size of the park now and in the plan, linking its reduction to the new housing in the south-east.
- List the features that remain unchanged to show a full picture: the school, the existing housing and the housing to the south.
- Use compass directions consistently (north, south-east, south-west) to locate each change.
Band 8+ model answer
205 words · An original model answer written for ieltswrites, not an official answer. It stays in English, as in the exam.
The maps show the current layout of Islip town centre and the changes proposed for its development.
Overall, the plan will turn Islip into a largely pedestrian town centre encircled by a new ring road, and the countryside to the north will make way for new facilities and housing. Most residential areas and the school, however, will remain in place.
At present, a main road runs from east to west through the middle of the town, lined with shops on both sides, with countryside to the north. Under the proposed scheme, a dual carriageway will be built in a loop around the whole centre, and the old main road will be converted into a pedestrians-only street. Only the southern row of shops is to be kept, facing this new street.
The land north of the street will be developed with a bus station, a shopping centre and a car park, with new housing on the north-eastern side. In the south-east, the park, which is currently fairly large, will be scaled down to make room for further new homes. The existing housing in the south-west will remain intact, as will the school and the housing to the south, although both will lie outside the ring road.
Why this answer scores highly
- Task Achievement
- The answer gives a clear overview of the shift from a through road to a pedestrian centre surrounded by a ring road, then covers every significant change and notes the features that stay the same, so the comparison is complete.
- Coherence and Cohesion
- Changes are grouped logically, first roads and shops and then new buildings and land use, with clear referencing such as its place, this street and the remaining row.
- Lexical Resource
- Precise map vocabulary such as encircle, pedestrianised, make way for and be scaled down shows a wide range, and compass directions are used accurately to locate features.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- A range of future passive forms such as will be built, is to be converted and will be reduced is used accurately, alongside present simple for the current map and relative clauses for detail.
Useful vocabulary
- redevelopment
- the process of changing an area by building new things or replacing old ones
- dual carriageway
- a road with two lanes in each direction separated by a central strip
- ring road
- a road built around a town centre so traffic does not pass through it
- encircle
- go all the way around something
- pedestrianised
- closed to traffic so that only people on foot can use it
- make way for
- be removed so that something new can be built
- be converted into
- be changed so that it has a different use
- be replaced by
- have something new take its place
- be scaled down
- be made smaller
- residential area
- a part of a town where people live rather than work or shop
- remain intact
- stay as it is, without change
- on the northern side of
- a phrase for locating features accurately on the map
- under the proposed plan
- according to the planned changes
Common mistakes
- Using the past tense, for example the countryside was replaced, when the second map shows plans that have not happened yet.
- Describing each map separately in two long paragraphs instead of comparing what will change and what will stay.
- Missing the key change that the main road will become a pedestrians-only street and traffic will use the new dual carriageway.
- Saying the park will be removed, when it will be reduced in size and still exist in the south-east corner.
- Forgetting to mention that the northern row of shops will disappear, leaving only one row.
- Using vague location language such as here and there instead of compass points like north, south-east and south-west.
Frequently asked questions
- Which Cambridge book is this question from?
- The maps of Islip town centre now and its planned development are Writing Task 1 of Test 2 in Cambridge IELTS 12 Academic, published in 2017.
- What tense should I use for a planned development map?
- Use present simple for the current map and future forms for the plan, especially passives such as will be built, is to be replaced or is planned to become.
- Do I need to describe features that do not change?
- Briefly, yes. Mentioning that the school and most housing will remain shows the examiner that you have compared the whole of both maps.
- How many words should I write?
- Write at least 150 words; about 170 to 200 words lets you cover the overview and all the main changes in 20 minutes.
Free and timed, with a live word count, just like the computer-delivered test. Then get an instant AI band score.
The exam simulator runs on a computer. Open this page on a laptop or desktop to practise.