Australian Beachfront Area Maps 1950 and Today

The maps below show a beachfront area in Australia in 1950 and the same area today.

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question image

Annotated response

4 correction notes

Showing 4 correction notes.

The maps illustrate the transformation of an Australian beachfront area between 1950 and the present.

Overall, the site has evolved from a simple recreational space into a more developed precinct featuring expanded facilities. It is also important to highlight that the access road along the northern edge has been widened from a single‐lane to a dual carriageway.

In 1950, visitors entered via a road at the , which led directly to one car park at the eastern end. Immediately below, a central pavilion stood flanked on its left by several dining tables, while a children’s playground occupied the far west corner. Along the shoreline, two identical were positioned: and the other adjacent to the lighthouse on the eastern tip.

Today, the upgraded dual carriageway provides access to two car parks—one at each end of the site. On the western side, the former playground has been replaced by three restaurant blocks. The pavilion and dining tables remain centrally located, and to their east a new surf club sits beside the lighthouse. Leisure offerings have also increased, with a larger installed to the west of the pavilion while the original 25 metre pool persists to the east.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The response is clearly organised and uses varied vocabulary and sentence structures to compare the layouts. Its main limitation is inaccurate map interpretation: it reverses the incoming road location, misidentifies the replacement for the playground, and claims a change to a dual carriageway that the maps do not establish.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Achievement

6.0

The response gives an overview and reports several key developments, including the larger western pool. However, the road enters from the left, the playground becomes a car park rather than restaurants, and the maps do not establish a change from a single lane to a dual carriageway.

Coherence and Cohesion

7.5

The response progresses logically from the overview through the earlier layout to the present layout. Paragraphing and cohesive references guide the comparison effectively, although the repeated road-width claim takes space away from the other changes.

Lexical Resource

7.5

Vocabulary is flexible and topic-appropriate, including phrases such as 'flanked', 'upgraded', and 'leisure offerings', with only occasional imprecision like 'evolved from a simple recreational space'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.5

A wide range of structures is used with good control, including complex sentences, passive forms, and relative clauses, with only minor lapses in phrasing such as 'one roughly mid-section of the beach'.