This is an IELTS writing task 1 sample answer essay on the topic of a map of pancha village from the real IELTS exam.
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Dave
IELTS Essay Task 1: Map of Pancha Village
The maps below show Pancha Village in 2005 and 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The maps detail changes to the village of Pancha from 2005 to 2015. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the town became more developed with the addition of a new road, modern utilities, and general expansion of current residential, commercial and educational areas.
By 2015, the single dirt road present in 2005 had been transformed into a highway lined with road signs, telephone poles and telecommunication towers in the bottom left corner of the map. On the left side of the road, the marketplace has grown and become more organized while the sizes of the homes along the road have also become larger.
To the right side of the road, in the bottom corner, the area demarcated for pagodas now allows for an additional building. Just above the pagodas, two homes have been cleared away and in the upper right corner, the town built a secondary school to complement the primary school.
It is also worth noting that in 2005, most homes only possessed access to telephones but by 2015 satellite service had become common.
Analysis
1. The maps detail changes to the village of Pancha from 2005 to 2015. 2. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the town became more developed with the addition of a new road, modern utilities, and general expansion of current residential, commercial and educational areas.
- Paraphrase the overall essay topic.
- Write a general over for the map. Include the major changes and group them generally.
1. By 2015, the single dirt road present in 2005 had been transformed into a highway lined with road signs, telephone poles and telecommunication towers in the bottom left corner of the map. 2. On the left side of the road, the marketplace has grown and become more organized while the sizes of the homes along the road have also become larger.
- Begin to describe the changes.
- Be sure to compare as much as possible.
1. To the right side of the road, in the bottom corner, the area demarcated for pagodas now allows for an additional building. 2. Just above the pagodas, two homes have been cleared away and in the upper right corner, the town built a secondary school to complement the primary school.
- Switch to another part of the map.
- Don’t include any opinion and don’t forget any areas.
1. It is also worth noting that in 2005, most homes only possessed access to telephones but by 2015 satellite service had become common.
- Try to keep it to 3 paragraphs but if there is an extra detail that is better in another paragraph, that is fine!
Vocabulary
What do the words in bold below mean? Take some notes on a piece of paper to aid your memory:
The maps detail changes to the village of Pancha from 2005 to 2015. Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that the town became more developed with the addition of a new road, modern utilities, and general expansion of current residential, commercial and educational areas.
By 2015, the single dirt road present in 2005 had been transformed into a highway lined with road signs, telephone poles and telecommunication towers in the bottom left corner of the map. On the left side of the road, the marketplace has grown and become more organized while the sizes of the homes along the road have also become larger.
To the right side of the road, in the bottom corner, the area demarcated for pagodas now allows for an additional building. Just above the pagodas, two homes have been cleared away and in the upper right corner, the town built a secondary school to complement the primary school.
It is also worth noting that in 2005, most homes only possessed access to telephones but by 2015 satellite service had become common.
Answers
Try to write down or think of an antonym/opposite word for further practice:
detail describe
village town
Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that overall
developed became better
addition added on
modern utilities new buildings
general expansion overall growth
current residential right now homes
commercial related to business
educational related to teaching
single dirt road one unpaved street
present in was there
transformed into made into
highway big street
lined with along a row
road signs stop signs, etc.
telephone poles where telephone lines are hung up
telecommunication towers used to connect phones
on the left side of to the left of
grown got bigger
organized in better order
while at the same time
along the road lined up
larger bigger
demarcated sectioned off
pagodas temples
additional building extra place
just above right over
cleared away removed
built constructed
secondary school high school
complement add to, complete
primary school school for young kids
it is also worth noting that it is noticeable that
access get into
satellite service uses satellites to provide internet, TV shows
common ubiquitous
Pronunciation
Practice saying the words below using this tip with Google voice dictation:
ˈdiːteɪl
ˈvɪlɪʤ
ˈlʊkɪŋ frɒm ən ˈəʊvərɔːl pəˈspɛktɪv, ɪt ɪz ˈrɛdɪli əˈpærənt ðæt
dɪˈvɛləpt
əˈdɪʃ(ə)n
ˈmɒdən ju(ː)ˈtɪlɪtiz
ˈʤɛnərəl ɪksˈpænʃən
ˈkʌrənt ˌrɛzɪˈdɛnʃəl
kəˈmɜːʃəl
ˌɛdju(ː)ˈkeɪʃənl
ˈsɪŋgl dɜːt rəʊd
ˈprɛznt ɪn
trænsˈfɔːmd ˈɪntuː
ˈhaɪweɪ
laɪnd wɪð
rəʊd saɪnz
ˈtɛlɪfəʊn pəʊlz
ˌtɛlɪkəˌmju(ː)nɪˈkeɪʃən ˈtaʊəz
ɒn ðə lɛft saɪd ɒv
grəʊn
ˈɔːgənaɪzd
waɪl
əˈlɒŋ ðə rəʊd
ˈlɑːʤə
ˈdiːmɑːkeɪtɪd
pəˈgəʊdəz
əˈdɪʃənl ˈbɪldɪŋ
ʤʌst əˈbʌv
klɪəd əˈweɪ
bɪlt
ˈsɛkəndəri skuːl
ˈkɒmplɪmənt
ˈpraɪməri skuːl
ɪt ɪz ˈɔːlsəʊ wɜːθ ˈnəʊtɪŋ ðæt
ˈæksɛs
ˈsætəlaɪt ˈsɜːvɪs
ˈkɒmən
Vocabulary Practice
Remember and fill in the blanks. Note it on a piece of paper so you can remember better:
The maps d______l changes to the v________e of Pancha from 2005 to 2015. L____________________________________________________________t the town became more d___________d with the a_________n of a new road, m__________________s, and g________________n of c______________________l, c___________________l and e________________l areas.
By 2015, the s___________________d p_____________n 2005 had been t________________________o a h___________y l______________________s, t____________________s and t___________________________s in the bottom left corner of the map. O_____________________f the road, the marketplace has g________n and become more o______________d w_______e the sizes of the homes a__________________d have also become l_________r.
To the right side of the road, in the bottom corner, the area d______________d for p____________s now allows for an a____________________g. J____________e the pagodas, two homes have been c_______________y and in the upper right corner, the town b_____t a s______________________l to c_____________t the p__________________l.
I__________________________t in 2005, most homes only possessed a_________s to telephones but by 2015 s_________________e had become c___________n.
Listening Practice
Listen to the related topic below and practice with these activities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBMSaEt1IdQ
Reading Practice
Read more and use these ideas to practice:
Speaking Practice
Practice with the following related questions from the real IELTS speaking exam:
Scenery
- Are there many places in your hometown to see nice scenery?
- When you travel, do you stay in rooms with good views?
- Would you like to live in a house with beautiful scenery around it?
- Why do people like taking pictures of the scenery?
Writing Practice
Practice with the related map below and then check with my sample answer:

Hello sir, I have some confusion about tenses in this essay. In 2nd paragraph, 1st sentence, you have used past perfect tense(had been transformed) but in rest of the essay, you have used present perfect tense(e.g. has grown, have been cleared away and so on). So, my question is- as in title, year 2015 is given(past) so how can we use have+been+past participle or has+p.p instead of had+been + p.p or had+p.p? It seems to me that we should use/stick to same sentence structure throughout the essay like your 1st sentence of 2 nd paragraph as 2015 is a past.
You can vary the tense, Sandra.
For past perfect, this is for an event before another event in the past so it is often used with past simple, present perfect, etc. – for example if you were telling a story.
Don’t try to show off too much, but some range of grammar is important and past perfect is useful for a lot of different IELTS task 1s.
Is that clear?
So , we can also use ‘present perfect tense’(apart from past perfect tense) to describe single event that happened before 2021 or in past in task 1 especially? ( just as in this essay-2015)
Yes, it is very useful for that!
thanx
No problem, Sandra!
The picture compares the distribution of Pancha Village in 2005 with that in 2015.
From an overall perspective, the village became a morden village, with a new wide road and more infrastructure. The houses on the west side of the road became larger with new version of television.
On the east side of the road, the primary school was updated into a primary and secondary school with new teaching buildings. Two houses to the south of the school were removed, and two new road signals were built. The main building in the pagoda was replaced by two small buildings.
The track in the middle of the village was rebuilt into a morden road. Electricity cables connect the village along the road. The houses on the west of the road became bigger. There were more shops in the market, which were organized regularly. Two new televesion towers were built in the south of the market.