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IELTS Writing Task 1: process diagram and map

B2Writing40 questionsUpdated

Not every Task 1 is a graph. A process diagram asks you to describe stages in order, and a map asks you to describe how a place changed between two dates. Both need different language from a line graph: the passive, sequencing words and the vocabulary of position. This page covers both, with forty original questions.

What this task tests

  • Whether you can describe stages in a fixed order without adding figures that do not exist.
  • Control of the passive voice, which most process descriptions need throughout.
  • Sequencing language: first, once this is complete, at the final stage.
  • Whether you write an overview stating how many stages there are and where the process begins and ends.
  • For maps, whether you use past and present forms correctly for the two dates shown.
  • Vocabulary of position: to the north of, adjacent to, on the opposite side of.
  • Change verbs for maps: was demolished, was replaced by, was extended.
  • Whether you organise by stage or by area rather than by whatever catches your eye.
  • Whether you avoid explaining why the changes happened.
  • Word count and timing, as for every Task 1.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Count the stages before writing

    For a process, number them on the question paper. That number goes straight into your overview.

  2. Step 2:

    Decide whether the process is linear or cyclical

    A cycle returns to its starting point and must be described as such; saying a cycle 'ends' is a factual error.

  3. Step 3:

    Paraphrase the title for the introduction

    One sentence: what the diagram shows and, for a map, which two dates it compares.

  4. Step 4:

    Write an overview of the shape

    For a process: how many stages, what it starts with and what it produces. For a map: the overall character of the change, such as from farmland to housing.

  5. Step 5:

    Use the passive for the process body

    The agent is rarely important: the grain is dried, the mixture is heated. Keep it consistent rather than switching to 'they dry the grain'.

  6. Step 6:

    Sequence explicitly

    Use a different connector each time: initially, next, once this has happened, in the penultimate stage, finally.

  7. Step 7:

    Anchor map descriptions to fixed features

    Rivers, roads and coastlines usually survive the change, so use them as the reference points for everything that moved.

  8. Step 8:

    Split maps by area, not by feature

    One paragraph for the north and one for the south beats jumping from a school to a car park and back.

  9. Step 9:

    Check the tense pattern at the end

    Past for the earlier map, present or present perfect for the later one if it shows today, and past throughout if both dates are in the past.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisFirst they collect the leaves, then they dry them.

    ThisFirst the leaves are collected, and they are then dried.

    Process diagrams rarely name an agent, so the passive is the natural choice and reads as more academic.

  • Not thisThe cycle finishes when the water returns to the sea.

    ThisThe cycle then begins again as the water returns to the sea.

    A cyclical process has no end point, and describing one as finished misreports the diagram.

  • Not thisThe forest was cut down because the town needed more houses.

    ThisThe forest was replaced by housing.

    Task 1 does not ask for causes, and an invented reason is information the diagram does not contain.

  • Not thisIn 1990 there is a school in the north.

    ThisIn 1990 there was a school in the north.

    A date in the past takes a past tense, and mixed tenses in a map description are heavily visible.

  • Not thisThen, then, then, then.

    ThisInitially, after that, once this is complete, finally.

    Cohesion is a marking criterion, and repeating one connector caps it.

  • Not thisThe hotel was built in the east and the shop was removed and the road was widened and a car park appeared.

    ThisSplitting the changes into two paragraphs by area, with varied sentence structures.

    One long chain of 'and' clauses shows no range of grammar and is hard to follow.

  • Not thisWriting about a map without saying what changed overall.

    ThisAdding an overview such as 'the area changed from a rural settlement into a tourist resort'.

    As with graphs, the overview carries the task achievement mark.

  • Not thisDescribing every building on the map.

    ThisDescribing the changes and grouping the small ones.

    The task asks for the main features; features that did not change usually need one clause, not a sentence each.

Language this task keeps reusing

stage
one step in a process
cyclical
returning to the starting point and repeating
linear
running from a clear beginning to a clear end
raw material
the substance a process starts with
by-product
something additional produced by a process
undergo
to have a process done to it: the mixture undergoes filtering
subsequently
after that
penultimate
second to last
adjacent to
next to
on the outskirts
at the edge of a town
demolish
to knock a building down
convert into
to change something so it has a new use
extend
to make something longer or larger
relocate
to move something to a new place
residential
used for housing
infrastructure
roads, bridges and other built facilities

Practice: task 1: processes & maps

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

1Complete the sentence.

Process descriptions are usually written in thevoice, because the person doing the action is not important.
Which sentence is the best style for a process diagram?

3Complete the sentence.

A process that returns to its starting point is described asrather than linear.
A map compares a town in 1970 and today. Which tense pattern is correct?
Decide whether each statement about Task 1 diagrams is true or false.
  • An overview of a process should say how many stages there are.
  • You should explain why each stage is necessary.
  • Sequencing words should be varied rather than repeated.
3 to go

6Complete the sentence.

The second-to-last stage can be called thestage.

7Write an overview sentence for a map showing a fishing village in 1950 that is now a tourist resort.

Which phrase correctly describes a building next to another?

9Complete the sentence.

Rivers, coastlines and main roads usually survive the change, so use them as fixedpoints when describing a map.
Which sentence describes a demolition and replacement correctly?

Keep going

30 more questions on this page

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need the passive in every sentence of a process?

No. Use it where no agent is named, but let natural subjects act: water evaporates, the mixture cools. A whole answer of passives reads as mechanical and is harder to control grammatically.

How do I describe a map when almost nothing changed?

Say so in the overview — the area remained largely unchanged apart from a small number of developments — then describe those developments in detail. Stating the absence of change is still reporting a main feature.

Should I use compass directions or left and right?

Compass directions, and only if the map provides them. Left and right depend on how the reader is looking at the page, which makes the description ambiguous.

Are map and process tasks common?

They appear less often than graphs and tables, which is exactly why they cost marks: candidates who have only practised line graphs meet the passive and the position vocabulary for the first time in the exam.

Can I number the stages in my answer?

Write in continuous prose. You can refer to 'the third stage', but numbered lists cannot show the cohesion the criteria ask for.

What if a process diagram has two branches?

Describe the main branch through to its end, then return to the point where the process splits and follow the second branch. Say clearly that the process divides, or the reader will lose the thread.