Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-11

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 5.5)

The table compares the data of the underground transport system speciically in railway in six different cities around the world.

Overall, while London was the first to construct the railways along with the longest route among the cities, railways in Tokya carried the highest passengers in a year. Kyoto railways covered the shortest distance and the least number of passengers as well.

Railway in London was built as first whch had the longest path of 394 km that had carried the third largest number of people of 775 millions in a year. Afterwards, Paris railway system was constructed in 1900 which rankedsecond in terms of distance and passenger which are 199 km and 1191 million passenger respectively that is followed by Tokyo which had a rail line of length 155 km and carried the maximum number of passenger among the six cities with 1927 million in a year.

Kyoto had the least number of passengers which was 45 millions a year. Moreover Los Angeles has the second least passengers wi

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrasts in the table: London is the oldest system and has the longest route, while Tokyo carries the most passengers and Kyoto has the lowest figures. You also include several accurate comparisons, such as Paris ranking second for route length and passenger numbers. However, the report does not cover all six cities adequately: Washington DC is omitted, and the final sentence about Los Angeles is cut off, leaving its route length and opening date unreported. Some details are also imprecise, such as calling Paris second for passengers without clearly distinguishing it from Tokyo’s highest figure. Include every city and report the key figures consistently to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and detail paragraphs, and the comparisons between London, Paris and Tokyo are generally easy to follow. However, progression becomes incomplete in the final paragraph: Kyoto and Los Angeles are introduced, but the sentence ends abruptly and Washington DC is never integrated. Linking expressions such as “Afterwards,” “Moreover” and “which is followed by” help connect information, but some are mechanical or do not express the relationship precisely. The long sentence comparing Paris and Tokyo also carries several facts at once. Group the cities by useful contrasts, use clearer transitions, and ensure each paragraph develops a complete set of comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a table, including “longest route,” “ranked second,” “covered the shortest distance” and “carried the highest passengers.” This gives the report enough range to communicate its main comparisons. However, several choices are unnatural or imprecise, such as “the data of the underground transport system specifically in railway,” “construct the railways,” and “highest passengers”; systems carry passengers, rather than passengers being a quantity described as “highest.” There are also noticeable spelling and form errors, including “speciically,” “Tokya” and “whch.” Use concise, conventional terms such as “underground railway network,” “opened” and “annual passenger numbers,” and check spelling and collocations before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast in the overview (“while London was the first…”) and a relative clause in the comparison of Paris and Tokyo. The main information is often understandable, but errors in sentence construction and grammatical forms reduce clarity. For example, “Railway in London was built as first” has an awkward article and word order, while “which ranked second in terms of distance and passenger which are…” has unclear clause structure and agreement. The final sentence is incomplete, and some comparisons shift between past and present forms. Practise building shorter, complete comparison sentences, checking articles, singular/plural agreement and verb forms, then combine ideas only when the relationship remains clear.

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