The maps below show a coal mining site before and after redevelopment.

Maps show coal mining site before and after redevelopment - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 6 · 196 words.

The maps compare how the layout of a coal mining site changed after redevelopment. Overall, it is clear that a coal mining site has undergone significant changes, converting from industrial site to a residential area. The most notable changes were the introduction of new amenities such as museum, cafe, foot path, picnic area, children's playground and driving truck track. Despite these changes, parking lot and mine entrance remained in their original place but after redevelopment mine entrance was available for visitors.

Looking at the details, the north-west of the site was occupied by two waste pits but after reconstruction these places were used to construct a range of facilities such as a track for driving truck, a picnic area and a children's playground in the south-west corner. The medical room, which was placed in the middle of a site, gave way for a modern cafe and a mine entrance located above the cafe now is used by visitors.

As for the parking lot which was in the south-east corner remained unchanged, however, the museum was built instead of a staff's changing room and an old office was demolished. A new foot path replaced previous lorry park.

Examiner feedback

The response successfully addresses the task by providing a clear comparison of the two maps with an appropriate overview. However, language use contains occasional errors in articles and word formation, limiting it to a Band 6 across all criteria.

Task Achievement - 6

- The response covers the main requirements of the task by comparing the before and after layouts of the coal mining site. - Key features such as the removal of waste pits and the addition of recreational areas are selected and highlighted. - A clear overview is presented at the beginning, identifying the transformation from an industrial site to a residential/recreational area.

Coherence & Cohesion - 6

- Information and ideas are generally arranged coherently with an attempt at an overview, though paragraphing could be structured more cleanly. - Cohesive devices like "Overall", "Looking at the details", and "As for" are used to sequence information. - Progression is clear, but referencing and linking within sentences occasionally feel slightly mechanical.

Lexical Resource - 6

- The vocabulary is generally adequate and appropriate for describing changes in a map (e.g., "redevelopment", "amenities", "demolished"). - Some lack of precision in word choice and missing articles appear (e.g., "driving truck track", "staff's changing room"). - Spelling is accurate, but collocations could be more natural.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 6

- A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used, though flexibility is somewhat limited. - Grammatical errors occur with articles (e.g., "converting from industrial site", "driving truck track") and prepositions. - Punctuation is generally adequate, but sentence control falters in longer descriptions.

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