A town reshaped, and a world on the move
A Task 1 map comparison over time and a Task 2 two-part essay, written, self-assessed, and shown beside the Band 7.5+ models, with the moves that earn the marks.
How to use this. Write both tasks in the boxes below, Task 1 in twenty minutes, Task 2 in forty, as in the real test. When you have finished, open Self-assessment to mark your own work against the four criteria, then compare it with the Band 7.5+ models and the notes on exactly what lifts a response up a band. You can download a copy of everything to keep. For a person to mark your writing against the criteria, the first lesson includes one marked Task 2.
Describe the maps.
Recommended 20 minutes · at least 150 words
The two maps below show the small coastal town of Brookhaven Bay as it was in 1995 and as it appears today, in 2025, following several decades of redevelopment.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write the essay.
Recommended 40 minutes · at least 250 words · carries twice the marks
International tourism has expanded dramatically over the past few decades. People now travel abroad for holidays, sightseeing and short breaks in numbers that would have been unimaginable to previous generations, and many destinations have come to depend heavily on visitors from overseas.
Why has international tourism grown so rapidly, and is this development a positive or negative one overall?
Mark your own work.
Be honest with yourself against the four criteria, the same four an examiner uses. Then read the model answers and the notes on exactly what moves a response up a band.
Task Response
Coherence & Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
The Band 7.5+ models, and what earns the marks
What the task wants. Two maps, thirty years apart. As with any map task, the marks are in an overview that captures the overall character of the change (here, a working coastal town becoming a tourist resort), the past tense and the passive used consistently (was replaced, were built), and clear location language so the reader can follow what moved where. A Band 5 lists buildings; a Band 7.5 describes a transformation and locates it.
The target · Band 7.5+ · modelThe two maps show how the small coastal town of Brookhaven Bay changed between 1995 and 2025. Overall, the town was transformed from a quiet, partly agricultural settlement into a tourist-oriented resort: the most pronounced changes took place along the seafront and on the southern edge, while a handful of older landmarks were retained. The clearest changes are on the coast. The modest harbour was expanded into a much larger marina, and the lighthouse that once stood on the eastern point was converted into a museum. A pedestrianised promenade was laid out along the front, and a roundabout was added to the Coast Road, which had previously run straight through the town. Inland, the town became markedly more commercial. The pub was demolished and replaced by a seafront hotel, and a new restaurant and car park were built nearby to serve visitors. To the south, the open farmland gave way entirely to a modern housing estate. The original cottages on the western edge and the church, by contrast, were both preserved.
Why it scores. An overview that names the overall change, not just “there were many changes”; consistent past passive (was expanded, was converted, were preserved), the natural register for a completed redevelopment; compass and location language (along the seafront, on the eastern point, to the south, on the western edge) so the reader can place each feature; and the changes grouped by area rather than listed at random.
Where weaker responses lose marks. Listing every building in each map with no overview and no comparison; staying in the present tense (the marina is in the north) for a change that has already happened; vague location (it is near the other one) that leaves the reader guessing; and forgetting to report what was kept, the cottages and the church, which is itself a feature worth noting.
What the task wants. Two distinct questions: why tourism has grown, and whether that is positive or negative. Both must be answered to a similar depth, and the rubric rewards a clear, reasoned position in the second part. The cleanest structure gives a paragraph to the causes and a paragraph to the evaluation, with an introduction that signals both and a conclusion that consolidates the verdict. Explaining causes fully but only gesturing at an opinion, or the reverse, caps Task Response.
The target · Band 7.5+ · model paragraphsIntroduction, framing both parts. International tourism has surged in recent decades, with foreign travel now within reach of ordinary people rather than the wealthy few. This essay will first consider why the trend has accelerated so sharply, and will then argue that, on balance, it is a positive development, provided its costs are managed.
Causes. Several factors lie behind the growth. The most important is cost: budget airlines and online booking have made flights and accommodation far cheaper and easier to arrange than a generation ago. Rising disposable incomes in many countries mean that more households can afford a holiday abroad, while paid annual leave has become standard in much of the world. Social media has played its part too, as images of distant destinations circulate constantly and fuel the desire to travel.
Evaluation, with a position. Whether this is a good thing is more finely balanced, but I would argue the benefits outweigh the costs. Tourism brings substantial economic gains: it creates jobs, supports local businesses, and can fund the preservation of heritage sites that might otherwise fall into disrepair. It also fosters understanding between people who would never otherwise meet. The drawbacks are real, namely over-crowding, environmental damage and the erosion of local character, but these are largely problems of management rather than of tourism itself, and can be addressed through visitor limits, sustainable infrastructure and sensible regulation.
Conclusion. In conclusion, international tourism has grown chiefly because travel has become cheaper, incomes have risen, and the world feels smaller. While it carries genuine risks, its economic and cultural benefits are considerable, and with careful management it is, in my view, a development to be welcomed rather than resisted.
Why it scores. Both parts answered with comparable weight; a position stated in the introduction and defended in the conclusion, so the essay argues rather than lists; causes explained by mechanism (budget airlines lower the cost; rising incomes widen access) instead of named in a bare list; and a qualified judgement (positive, provided the costs are managed) that reads as thinking rather than a slogan.
Where weaker responses lose marks. Answering only one of the two parts, or treating one in a paragraph and the other in a sentence; giving no real opinion when the question explicitly asks for one; listing causes with no explanation of how each drives the trend; and the recurring Task 2 ceiling, comma splices joining two full sentences with only a comma, which holds an otherwise strong essay at 6.5 on accuracy.
These are model answers I wrote for this paper, shown with the criterion marks they would earn and the reasons. The first lesson includes one of your own Task 2s, marked the same way against the four criteria and returned annotated, line by line.
Take your work with you.
Download your two answers alongside the target models, so you can revise them later or bring them to a lesson.
Next, online: Paper 06, a data table and an outweigh essay · or back to Paper 04 · Paper 03 · Paper 01.
Send a task. Get it back marked.
A paper tells you the question. It can’t tell you why your answer sits at 6.5.
Write your response to the Task 2 above and send it to me. I’ll mark it in detail against the four assessment criteria and return it to you annotated, line by line, so you can see exactly where the band is sitting and what is holding it down. Written work is handled this way around the lessons, sent over and returned marked between sessions, which keeps the fifty minutes themselves free for speaking. The first lesson is a full assessment. Regular lessons are £20 for fifty minutes, one to one, in proper British English.