Task 1 Academic — Processes & Maps
The two Task 1 questions almost nobody practises — until they turn up on exam day. A process diagram tests the passive voice and sequencing; a map tests location language and change over time. Master the grammar patterns behind each and neither can surprise you.
What you'll be able to do
- Describe a process using the passive voice and sequencing markers
- Describe changes to a map with accurate location language
- State the number of stages and start/end point in your overview
- Choose the right tense for undated processes and dated maps
Graphs and charts get all the practice, so when a process diagram or a map appears instead, candidates freeze. They shouldn't. These two question types are arguably more predictable than data charts, because each rests on a small, fixed set of grammar patterns. Learn the patterns and you can describe any process or map you are handed.
The task instruction is the same as always — summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features — and so are the rules: 20 minutes, 150 words minimum, no opinions. What changes is the language you reach for.
Process diagrams: the passive and the sequence
A process shows how something is made (bricks, cement, chocolate) or a natural cycle (the water cycle, a butterfly's life stages). Two grammar features carry almost the entire answer.
First, the passive voice. In a manufacturing process the agent — the worker, the factory — is irrelevant; what matters is what happens to the material. So you write "the beans are roasted," not "a worker roasts the beans." Second, sequencing language to move the reader from stage to stage: first, next, then, after that, subsequently, once this is done, finally. Most processes are described in the present simple passive because they are general, repeating procedures with no dates attached.
Structure a process answer
- Introduction. Paraphrase the caption — "The diagram illustrates the stages involved in producing…" — without copying it.
- Overview. State how many stages there are, whether the process is linear or a cycle, and where it begins and ends. For example: "Overall, there are seven distinct stages, beginning with the harvesting of raw cacao and ending with packaged chocolate ready for sale."
- Body paragraph 1. Describe the first half of the stages in order, using the passive and sequencers.
- Body paragraph 2. Describe the remaining stages through to the end product, keeping the same tense and voice.
💡 A short process in three sentences (reveal to check)
Turn these three raw notes into linked, passive, sequenced sentences: (1) pick olives (2) crush into paste (3) press paste → oil collected.
Answer:
"First, the olives are picked from the trees. They are then crushed into a thick paste. Finally, this paste is pressed so that the oil can be collected."
Every verb is passive — are picked, are crushed, is pressed — because who does the picking is unimportant. The sequencers first, then, finally carry the reader through the order, and "so that the oil can be collected" adds a complex clause without adding an opinion.
Maps: location language and change over time
A map task almost always shows the same place at two different times — a village in 1990 and today, a hospital site before and after redevelopment — and asks you to describe how it changed. The core skill is location language: telling the reader where each change happened.
Reach for compass directions (to the north, in the south-east, along the western edge), relative position (adjacent to, opposite, next to, surrounded by, in the centre), and the vocabulary of transformation itself: was built, was demolished, was replaced by, was converted into, was expanded, was relocated. Because most maps compare a past state with a later one, the past simple passive is the natural tense — though if one map is labelled "now" or shows a future plan, adjust accordingly.
| Sequencing (process) | Location (maps) | Passive change verbs (both) |
|---|---|---|
| first, initially, to begin with | to the north / south / east / west | is / was produced |
| next, then, after that | in the north-east corner | is / was built, constructed |
| subsequently, following this | adjacent to, next to, beside | was demolished, removed, cleared |
| once this is complete | opposite, across from, facing | was replaced by, converted into |
| at the final stage, finally | in the centre, surrounded by | was expanded, extended, relocated |
Group by area, not by feature
The neatest way to organise a map answer is geographically: dedicate one body paragraph to changes in one part of the map (say, the northern half) and the second paragraph to the rest. Hopping randomly from a new road in the east to a demolished house in the west and back again reads as chaos and hurts Coherence. Walk the reader across the map in an orderly path.
Still no opinions — and mind the tense
A map is not an invitation to judge. "The village became more attractive" is an opinion the map cannot prove; "the farmland was replaced by housing" is a fact it shows. And keep your tense tied to the labels: two past dates take the past passive throughout, while a "present day" or "proposed" map shifts you into the present or future.
A worked process: how chocolate is made
The prompt: The diagram below shows the process by which chocolate is produced from cacao. The stages shown are: cacao pods are harvested from trees; the beans are removed and left to ferment; the beans are dried in the sun; they are transported to a factory; the beans are roasted; the roasted beans are ground into a liquid; and finally the liquid is moulded and cooled into chocolate bars.
✅ Band 8 model answer Band 8.0
The diagram illustrates the various stages involved in manufacturing chocolate, starting from the cacao tree and ending with finished chocolate bars.
Overall, the process consists of seven distinct steps and is entirely linear, beginning with the harvesting of cacao pods in the field and concluding with the moulding of chocolate at a factory. The early stages take place where the cacao is grown, while the later ones occur after the beans have been transported for industrial processing.
At the first stage, ripe cacao pods are harvested from the trees. The beans are then extracted from the pods and left to ferment for a period, after which they are spread out and dried naturally in the sun. Once the beans have been dried, they are packed and transported to a factory for the remaining steps.
On arrival at the factory, the beans are roasted at a high temperature. Following this, the roasted beans are ground down into a thick liquid. At the final stage, this liquid is poured into moulds and cooled, producing the solid chocolate bars that are ready for sale.
- Introduction paraphrases "the process by which chocolate is produced" as "the various stages involved in manufacturing chocolate."
- Overview names the number of stages (seven), the shape (linear), and the start and end points — precisely what a process overview must contain, with no figures needed.
- Present simple passive throughout: are harvested, are extracted, is poured — the agent is omitted because it is irrelevant.
- Sequencing carries every transition: at the first stage, then, after which, once, following this, at the final stage — a genuine range, not just "and then."
- Complex structures stay accurate: "after which they are spread out," "Once the beans have been dried" — including a present-perfect passive to show one stage completing before the next.
- Around 210 words, well over the minimum, organised into two logical halves (field-side stages, then factory stages).
Cycles need one extra word
If the diagram is a natural cycle rather than a linear process — the water cycle, a frog's life cycle — say so in your overview ("the process is a continuous cycle with no clear beginning or end") and pick a sensible starting point. Signal the loop at the close with a phrase like "and the cycle then repeats," so the reader understands it is ongoing.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the passive voice so important for process diagrams?
Because in most processes the person or machine performing each action is unknown or unimportant — what matters is what happens to the material. "The beans are roasted" keeps the focus on the process and shows the examiner grammatical range, which is exactly what Grammar and Lexical Resource reward.
What tense should I use for a map task?
Match it to the map labels. Two past dates call for the past simple passive throughout ("a car park was built"); a map marked "present day" uses the present, and a "proposed" or future map uses future forms such as "will be constructed."
How do I write the overview for a process?
State how many stages there are, whether it is linear or a cycle, and where the process starts and finishes. That single sentence gives the examiner the big picture before you describe individual steps, which is what the band descriptors require.
Do I need technical vocabulary I don't know for a process?
No. The diagram labels every stage for you, so you can reuse those terms. Your marks come from linking the labelled stages with accurate passives and sequencers, not from inventing industrial jargon.