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 given table provides data about the underground railway systems in six major city, which highiliting their opening dates, route of kilometers and passengers numbers. The units are measured million.

Overall, it can be seen that Tokyo and Paris had the highest number of passengers, wherase Kyoto and Los angeles had the smallest number of passengers.

In 1863, London route of 394 kilometers and the passengers in 775 millons per year. The Paris in 1900, route length at 199 kilometers, 1191 million per year in passengers. In contrast, Tokyo had shorter route lenght at 155 km, served a higher number of passenger annually, at 1927 million in 1927.

Furthermore, Washington Dc opened in 1976, a medium size route of 126 km and carried 144 million users in this year. The system in Kyoto and Los Angels inaugrated in 1981 and 2001, respectively. Then Kyto's network spread only 11km and transported 45 million, while Los Angeles had route at 38 km and accomodation transprotation user 50 million in this period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the table’s subject and provide an overview that correctly highlights Tokyo and Paris as the busiest systems and Kyoto and Los Angeles as the least busy. You also include figures for all six cities, so the response is relevant and covers the main categories. However, the overview is limited to passenger numbers and does not summarise the clear contrasts in opening dates and route lengths—for example, London is the oldest and has the longest network, while Los Angeles is the newest. Some details are inaccurate: Los Angeles is listed as having 28 km, not 38 km, and the phrase “in 1927” after Tokyo’s passenger figure could be confused with its opening year. Select the most important comparisons and report every figure accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs presenting city details. Grouping London, Paris and Tokyo before Washington, Kyoto and Los Angeles gives the information a generally logical progression, and “In contrast” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships. However, the comparisons within the detail paragraphs are not consistently clear, and some sentences read like separate data points rather than a connected comparison. For example, “The Paris in 1900, route length at 199 kilometers” does not clearly link the opening date, route length and passenger figure. Use complete, parallel sentence patterns and organise the figures around meaningful contrasts, such as oldest/longest versus newest/shortest or busiest versus least busy.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a table, including “route length,” “annually,” “inaugurated” and “network,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, control of word choice, collocation and spelling is uneven, which limits precision. Phrases such as “route of kilometers,” “passengers numbers” and “accommodation transportation user” are unnatural or unclear; “route length,” “passenger numbers” and “carried passengers” would be more appropriate. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “highiliting,” “wherase,” “lenght” and “transprotation.” Aim for accurate, conventional data-reporting language and check spelling carefully, especially for city names and key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including a comparison with “while,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, sentence structures are limited and several are incomplete or grammatically faulty. For example, “In 1863, London route of 394 kilometers and the passengers in 775 millons per year” has no main verb, while “The Paris in 1900, route length at 199 kilometers” is also a fragment. There are recurring problems with articles, agreement and verb forms, as in “six major city” and “Tokyo and Paris had the highest number.” Practise complete clauses with a clear subject and verb, such as “London’s system opened in 1863 and had a route length of 394 km.”

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