Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-09

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The take below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Underground Railway Systems

City	Date opened	Kilometers of route	Passengers per year (in millions)
London	1863	394	775
Paris	1900	199	1191
Tokyo	1927	155	1927
Washington DC	1976	126	144
Kyoto	1981	11	45
Los Angeles	2001	28	50

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The given diagram illustrates the information about underground railway systems in six cities, while there are several cities include London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles.

Overall, in these countries paris is higher passengers than the other countries and Los Angles is lower than the other countries. London city date open in 1863 and kilometer of route is 394 and the passengers per year is 75 millions, In contrast Los angeles is lower than the London and the date open in 2001 the route is 28km and the passengers is 50 millions.

In the table, Paris date open in 1900 the route is 199km and the 1191 million passengers, followed by Tokyo date open in 1927 and the route is 155 and 1927 million passengers are travel in the tokyo railway system.

Then the other country is Kyoto and Kyoto dates open in 1981 the route is 11km and 45 millions passengers are travel in Kyoto railway and the last country is Washington Dc has date open in 1976 the route is 126 and the passengers is144million are travel in Washington DC.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You include figures for all six cities and identify useful contrasts, especially London’s long route and early opening compared with Los Angeles, and Tokyo’s high passenger total. However, the overview is not fully accurate: Paris is not the busiest system, since Tokyo carries 1,927 million passengers compared with Paris’s 1,191 million. The London figure is also reported as 75 million rather than 775 million, which changes an important comparison. The response mainly lists data rather than selecting the most significant patterns across the table. To strengthen it, give a precise overview of the oldest and largest network, the highest passenger use, and the smallest systems, then support those points with accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an opening, an overview, and paragraphs containing details, and phrases such as “In contrast” and “followed by” show attempts to connect comparisons. However, the progression is not consistently clear: the overview moves from Paris to Los Angeles and then London, while the later paragraphs list cities without a clear grouping principle. Repeated openings such as “date open” and “the route is” make the report feel like a sequence of separate entries. Some linking is also awkward, for example “Then the other country is Kyoto” before Washington is introduced as “the last country.” Group the cities by meaningful similarities or contrasts and use concise references to guide the reader through those groups.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “underground railway systems,” “passengers per year,” “route,” and “in contrast,” so the subject is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several phrases are repeated or used inaccurately. “In these countries” is unsuitable because the table compares cities, and “Paris is higher passengers” does not express passenger numbers naturally. “Date open” and “passengers are travel” also show weak control of common collocations and word forms. Spelling and capitalisation are inconsistent in “Los Angles,” “Los angeles,” “tokyo,” and “Washington Dc.” Use precise reporting language such as “recorded,” “carried,” and “had the longest route,” and check city names and standard forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates its basic meaning through mostly simple statements, but the range of sentence structures is limited and errors occur frequently. For example, “Paris date open in 1900” lacks a correctly formed verb, while “the passengers is 50 millions” has problems with subject–verb agreement and number. The sentence beginning “Overall, in these countries…” also joins ideas in an unclear structure, and several sentences omit articles or use incomplete clauses, such as “followed by Tokyo date open in 1927.” Try building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, for example, “The Paris system opened in 1900 and carried 1,191 million passengers annually.” Vary sentence patterns only after these basic forms are controlled.

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