APIEWriting Task 1: Urban Design and Planning
Urban design and public space
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
Module 1: School Bus Trip Data Skills
Foundation & Figures Workout
Teacher Guidance
1. Plan about 10 minutes for Module 1, 25 for the map report and 5 for the model answer. The automated checks in Module 1 give instant feedback.
2. Use student results in Module 1 to verify data-reporting accuracy before moving on to the visual writing task.
Student Instructions
1. Work through these interactive bus trip exercises first to build speed and confidence with core figure descriptions.
2. Review your answers carefully to master exact word forms and collocations before tackling full report writing.
Analyze travel times, seat occupancy, and student attendance logged across the morning and afternoon school bus journeys.
Part (a): Word Forms
Provide the correct grammatical form of the word in parentheses to describe the bus trip records.
Morning journey times showed continuous ______ (fluctuate) because of school gate drop-off delays.
Seats on each bus were kept ______ (proportion) to the number of pupils.
Arrival times tended to ______ (variation) depending on weather conditions and pupil counts.
The school transport team's original ______ (project) indicated that 120 seats would be required.
There was a ______ (significance) difference between the morning and afternoon trip durations.
Part (b): Data Collocations
Select the most natural descriptive adjective to complete each factual observation.
Organizers observed a ______ difference between the return times of Bus A and Bus B.
Seat availability experienced a ______ decline once the senior classes arrived at the bus terminal.
The trip log recorded a ______ increase in student boarding between 7:15 AM and 7:45 AM.
Bus 2 encountered ______ demand at 8:00 AM, leaving zero vacant seats for latecomers.
Following the departure of the primary school group, there was a ______ drop in waiting area numbers.
Part (c): Reporting Phrases for Figures
Choose the exact phrase from the word bank to fill in each sentence.
Word Bank (Copy & Type):
Students on Bus 1 ______ exactly 45% of the total morning passenger roster.
At the start of morning registration, the number of check-ins ______ 15.
The timetable logged a ______ in passenger arrivals right before departure at 8:30 AM.
Trip duration was roughly 35 minutes ______ the 50 minutes spent during yesterday's rehearsal run.
Onboard pupil numbers ______ throughout the return journey, hovering around 42 across both vehicles.
Part (d): Paraphrasing Selection
Select the sentence that accurately restates the factual meaning without introducing distortion.
Original Fact:
"Bus A carried 50 students, which was twice as many as Bus B."
Original Fact:
"The 8:15 AM bus took 40 minutes, whereas the 8:45 AM bus took only 25 minutes."
Original Fact:
"Between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM, the number of waiting pupils rose rapidly from 20 to 80."
Module 2: Town of Millbrook Map Task
IELTS Academic Task 1
The two maps show how the layout of the central blocks of the town of Millbrook changed between 2005 and 2025. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features.
Town Layout Grids (4 × 5 Matrix)
Each cell is one block of the town. North is at the top of both maps.
Map 1: Millbrook (2005)
Map 1: 2005
Map 2: Millbrook (2025)
Map 2: 2025
Task 1 Map Report Checklist
Student Response Submission
Write your complete Task 1 response based on the Millbrook maps above.
Module 3: Model Answer & Plain Annotations
Clear Map Report • 175 Words • Teacher Notes
Here is a complete, ready-to-study model answer written to describe the Millbrook town plan changes. The response is kept completely open below so you can read through it naturally, observe how each block was addressed, and see why specific phrases make the writing clear and effortless to follow.
Complete Model Answer (175 Words)
The two maps illustrate the urban redevelopment of the central blocks of Millbrook over a twenty-year period between 2005 and 2025.
Overall, the town centre underwent a comprehensive transformation from an industrial and vehicle-dominated zone into a pedestrianised commercial and community-oriented district. In striking contrast, the residential houses lining the entire eastern boundary remained completely unchanged throughout this timeframe.
Looking first at the northern and central sections, the extensive surface car park was replaced by a spacious public square and several cafes. Furthermore, the thoroughfare road network running through the middle was converted into a walking street, effectively creating a safe, pedestrian-only environment. Along the western border, the retail shops in the north-west were preserved, whereas the depot situated to the west was demolished to erect a new public library.
Significant modernization also took place across the southern sector. The two factories located in the south-west made way for new residential flats. Adjacent to these apartment blocks, the previous warehouses were cleared to establish a bustling indoor market hall, completing the district's overall civic renewal.
Plain Teacher Notes: Why These 7 Phrases Work
Simple, conversational insights on how these expressions solve common writing problems without any confusing theory.
"underwent a comprehensive transformation"
Instead of simply stating "the town changed a lot," this phrase paints the entire big picture in one clean stroke. It immediately tells your reader that nearly every block experienced a purposeful redesign.
"remained completely unchanged"
Strong reports don't just point out what changed - they also highlight what stayed the same. Pointing out that all four houses along the eastern border didn't move shows sharp observational balance.
"was replaced by"
The cleanest and most reliable workhorse phrase in map writing. Use it whenever one facility directly steps into the exact physical footprint previously occupied by something else.
"was converted into"
Use "converted into" when the basic pathway or land area stays where it was, but its purpose or surface changes completely (like turning an asphalt road for cars into a car-free walking street).
"were preserved, whereas"
This links two neighboring spaces in a single sentence. Instead of writing two choppy short sentences, "whereas" bridges the preserved northern shops directly with the knocked-down western depot.
"made way for"
A vivid, natural idiom that prevents your writing from sounding repetitive. Saying the factory blocks "made way for" flats sounds polished and active while describing physical replacement.
"were cleared to establish"
This pairs two actions smoothly into one statement: clearing out the industrial warehouses, and constructing the market hall in their place. It explains both the removal step and the construction step in just four easy words.
Teacher Takeaway: The 3 Golden Habits for Maps
Keep these in mind whenever you report layout changes
Habit 1
Group related blocks by zone (North, West, South) rather than listing individual squares randomly.
Habit 2
Vary your verbs across the report: rotate between "replaced", "converted", "made way for", and "cleared".
Habit 3
Always dedicate at least one clause in your overview to features that remained untouched.
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