Key features to report

• The park's boundaries and its two main entrances, on Arnold Avenue and Eldon Street, have not changed, and only the rose garden in the north-west corner survives from 1920.
• In 1920 there were three rose gardens, two on either side of the Arnold Avenue entrance and one in the south-west corner, with seats around the edges; today a single square rose garden surrounded by seats occupies the centre.
• The central fountain has been removed and replaced by the new rose garden, and the stage for musicians on the western side has been replaced by a much larger amphitheatre for concerts.
• In the north-east, the rose garden and the pond for water plants have given way to a café and a children's play area.
• The glasshouse in the south-east has been replaced by a water feature, and an entrance to an underground car park has been added on the eastern side.
• The general direction of change is from a decorative garden for quiet enjoyment towards a leisure space with more facilities for families and visitors.

Model overview

Overall, Grange Park has been transformed from an ornamental garden into a more family-oriented leisure area with more facilities, including catering, play and parking. Its boundaries and main entrances are unchanged, but almost all of the original features have been replaced.

Paragraph plan

1. 1

   Introduction

   Paraphrase the task: the two plans show Grange Park, situated between Arnold Avenue and Eldon Street, when it opened in 1920 and at present.

2. 2

   Overview

   State the main changes without detail: the park has become a leisure area with more facilities for families, most original features have been replaced, and the entrances and one rose garden remain.

3. 3

   Body paragraph 1: the park in 1920

   Describe the original layout using compass directions: three rose gardens, a central fountain with a stage for musicians to its west, a pond for water plants in the north-east, a glasshouse in the south-east and seats around the edges.

4. 4

   Body paragraph 2: the park today

   Explain what has replaced each feature: a central rose garden with seats instead of the fountain, an amphitheatre for concerts instead of the stage, a café and children's play area in the north-east, a water feature instead of the glasshouse, and a new entrance to an underground car park on the east side.

Useful comparisons

• Organise the body by time: the 1920 layout in one paragraph and today's layout in the other, explaining what replaced each feature.
• Alternatively, organise by area of the park (west, centre, east) and compare the past and present in each.
• Contrast music facilities: a small stage for musicians in 1920 and a much larger amphitheatre for concerts today.
• Contrast water features: a fountain and a pond for water plants in 1920, and a single water feature in the south-east today.
• Note what stayed the same: the boundaries, the two street entrances and the north-west rose garden.
• Highlight completely new facilities that had no equivalent in 1920: the café, the children's play area and the underground car park.

Band 8+ model answer

192 words · An original model answer written for ieltswrites, not an official answer. It stays in English, as in the exam.

Why this answer scores highly

Task Achievement

The answer gives a clear overview of the shift towards leisure facilities and what has stayed the same, and accounts for every significant change, linking each new feature to the one it replaced.

Coherence and Cohesion

The 1920 and present-day layouts are described in separate paragraphs, and spatial references such as in the centre, to the west and in the north-east help the reader picture the park.

Lexical Resource

A range of change vocabulary such as has given way to, has been replaced by, survives and has been added avoids repetition, and words like ornamental and amenities show precise word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Past tenses for 1920 contrast correctly with present perfect passives for today, and the answer uses relative clauses and participle phrases accurately.

Useful vocabulary

layout

the way the parts of a place are arranged

be replaced by

have something new put in its place

give way to

be removed so that something else can take its place

be converted into

be changed so that it has a different use

be relocated

be moved to a different position

remain intact

stay unchanged and undamaged

ornamental

decorative rather than practical

amenities

useful or pleasant facilities for the public

family-oriented

designed especially for families with children

amphitheatre

an open-air venue with rows of seats arranged in a curve around a stage

in the north-east corner

a precise way to give position on a plan

flanked by

with something on each side

has been added

present perfect passive for a new feature

no longer exists

used for a feature that has been removed

Common mistakes

• Using the past simple for all of today's features instead of the present perfect passive, for example has been replaced by and has been added.
• Saying that all the rose gardens have disappeared, when one remains in the north-west corner and a new one has been created in the centre.
• Describing positions vaguely, such as on the top or on the left, instead of using compass points or the street names.
• Missing the new entrance to the underground car park on the eastern side, which is easy to overlook because it is outside the park boundary on the plan.
• Writing about why the changes were made or whether they are improvements, which is personal opinion and not required.
• Describing the two plans in isolation without explaining which new feature replaced which old one.

Frequently asked questions

Which Cambridge book is this question from?

The plans of Grange Park in 1920 and today are Writing Task 1 of Test 4 in Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic, published in 2019.

Which tenses should I use for this map question?

Use the past simple for the 1920 plan, for example there was a fountain, and the present perfect passive for changes, for example the fountain has been replaced by a rose garden. Use the present simple for what is there now.

Do I need to mention the seats?

Only briefly. The seats are minor details, so it is enough to say they were around the edges in 1920 and now surround the central rose garden.

How many words should I write for this Task 1?

Write at least 150 words; about 170-200 words is enough to describe the main changes with a clear overview.