How to Describe a Map in IELTS Writing Task 1

A map has no numbers, so the changes between the maps are your data. The task may call it a plan, but it is the same kind of task, and this guide calls it a map.

This guide shows how to read the maps, write the overview, group the changes and choose the verbs. It is part of the Writing Task 1 guide, which covers the charts and the rules every Task 1 answer shares.

What a map task gives you

In Academic Task 1, the picture can be a map or a plan, as well as a chart or a process diagram source: ielts.org.

A map task usually shows the same place at two or more times source: IDP. A map task can also show a single map with no change over time source: IDP.

This guide covers the two-period kind, because change is what most of the method is about. With a single map, use the same language of position without the language of change.

Here is an invented village centre in two years. The rest of this guide uses it.

Invented data, drawn by Compass IELTS to show how a map is described. Not an IELTS task.

Show the data

Invented plans: A village centre, 2005 and 2025, what stands in each part of the centre

Part of the centre	2005	2025	Change
North-west	School	School	No change
North	Shop	Café	Changed use
North-east	Farm	Houses	Replaced
Middle	Main road	Main road	No change
South-west	Park	Park	No change
South	Empty land	Car park	Added
South-east	Factory	Empty land	Removed

Read the two maps first

Compare the maps area by area before you write a word. Sort every place into one of four groups: what stayed the same, what changed use, what is new, and what was removed.

In the sample, the school, the park and the main road stay the same. The shop changes use and becomes a café. The farm is replaced by houses, a car park is new, and the factory is removed.

Those four groups are already most of your answer. The overview comes from the biggest groups, and the body takes them one at a time.

What counts as a key feature on a map

On a map or plan, the key features may be the major changes that have taken place. The position of items on the map can support your description. You can use compass directions if they are given source: ielts.org.

Supporting detail on a map includes the names of buildings, and roads, paths or bridges source: IDP.

So on a map, a place name does the job a number does on a chart. "The factory" and "south of the main road" are your data.

Start with the overview

The overview says what kind of place this became. It does not list the buildings.

An overview summarises the main points, such as the main changes source: ielts.org. Leave specific data out of it source: ielts.org.

Here is one overview of the sample, written for this page.

Between 2005 and 2025, the village centre became more residential and less industrial.^{note 1} The main road, the school and the park did not change,^{note 2} while most of the other land was used for new things.^{note 3}

1. An overview "summarises the main points. That is, the main trends, changes, or number of steps" source: ielts.org. This sentence names the change to the whole place, not to one building.
2. At band 7, "the data are appropriately categorised" source: ielts.org. The three places that stayed the same are grouped in one clause, so the reader learns them at once.
3. The overview should not include specific data source: ielts.org. This clause names no single building. The café, the houses and the car park wait for the body.

Group the changes

Group the changes in the body. Do not describe the maps one building at a time.

There are two simple ways to group them. You can go by area, such as north of the road and then south of it. Or you can go by type of change, such as what was built and then what was removed.

One common layout has two body paragraphs, divided by location or by time period source: IDP.

Dividing by location is the same as grouping by area. Dividing by time period means one paragraph for each map. Grouping by type of change is a third way, and it works when the changes are spread across the whole map.

The sample suits grouping by area. North of the road, the shop and the farm changed. South of it, a car park was built and the factory went. Each side makes one paragraph.

Say where things are

Give every place a position, and use the same reference points in both years. Use the compass points on the map, such as "in the north-east". Use the fixed places too, such as "south of the main road" or "next to the school".

Fixed places are the reason to note what stayed the same. The road and the school do not change, so they help the reader find everything else.

Which verbs and tenses to use

A map shows what happened to each place, not who did it. That makes the passive a natural choice: "a car park was built", "the factory was removed". The process diagram guide explains how far to take the passive, and when the active fits better.

Diagrams give you labels to support your main points. Still, write your own words, including verbs, in the right tense and voice source: IDP.

The same goes for a map. Its labels name the places, but the verbs of change are yours to write. "Farm" and "houses" are labels. "The farm was replaced by houses" is your sentence.

Look at the time period to choose the tense source: IDP. The first map is usually described in the past tense, because it shows a time that has passed source: IDP.

Both years in the sample are in the past, so both maps take the past tense. If the second map showed a future year, it would take future forms, such as "will be built".

Here is part of a body paragraph for the north side, written for this page.

North of the main road,^{note 1} the school stayed in the north-west.^{note 2} However, the shop next to it was turned into a café,^{note 3} and the farm in the north-east was replaced by houses.^{note 4}

1. At band 7, "information and ideas are logically organised and there is a clear progression throughout the response" source: ielts.org. The paragraph opens with its area, so the reader knows which group comes next.
2. The position of items on a map can support your description source: ielts.org. The place that did not change still gets a position, and it becomes the reference point for the next clause.
3. Complex structures include passive forms source: ielts.org. "Was turned into" is passive, which fits a map that does not show who made the change.
4. At band 8, "key features are skilfully selected, and clearly presented, highlighted and illustrated" source: ielts.org. The farm is the biggest change on this side, so it gets a clause of its own, with what replaced it.

The south side, with the car park and the factory, would make a second paragraph. This guide stops at one paragraph, because it shows parts of an answer and never a whole one.

What changes from band 6 to band 7

The step from band 6 to band 7 on a map is from listing places to grouping changes.

At band 5, "there may be a tendency to focus on details (without referring to the bigger picture)" source: ielts.org. The Writing Task 1 guide sets out the band 6 and band 7 lines in full.

On a map, details without the bigger picture look like a list of buildings, one after another. Check your answer against the four groups from your reading. If each paragraph holds one group or one area, you have categorised. If it moves around the map in no order, you have not.

Grouping is part of Task Achievement, one of the four criteria in how IELTS Writing is marked. To see what your Writing band does to your overall score, try the band score calculator.

If your task shows stages instead of places, read how to describe a process diagram. General Training candidates write a letter instead: see the General Training letter. For a plan across both tasks, read how to improve your IELTS Writing score.

The points on maps and plans, key features, overviews and complex structures come from ielts.org's Writing test resources page and its article on preparing learners for Task 1. The band wording comes from the Writing band descriptors (updated May 2023). The points marked IDP come from IDP's articles on phrases for diagrams and maps (IDP Canada), Task 1 maps (IDP Vietnam), band 7 Task Achievement and common Task 1 types. The band descriptors PDF was last opened on 26 September 2026. The other pages were last checked on 3 October 2026. The map and examples were made up for this page and are not from any test.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to describe every building?

No. Describe the major changes, and group them.

On a map, the key features may be the major changes that have taken place source: ielts.org.

Places that stayed the same still deserve a short mention, because they help the reader find the changes.

Do I need a conclusion?

No. Task 1 needs an overview instead, and the Writing Task 1 guide explains where it goes.

Can I use north, south, east and west?

Yes. You can use the compass directions if the map provides them source: ielts.org.

Which tense should I use for a map?

Follow the dates on the maps. A map of a past year takes the past tense, and a planned future takes future forms. Look at the time period to choose the tense source: IDP.