Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The table illustrates some information of the underground railway system in six different cities around the world.

Overall, London has the oldest Underground railway system with the largest kilometeres of route, which was opened in 1863, while Los Angeles has the newest underground railway system, which was started from 2001.

London's underground railway system which is the largest of all, carries 775 million passengers annualy, followed by Paris, whose Underground railway system is the 2nd largest in terms of the lenght of its route which is 199 kilometers, and was opened in 1900.

Tokyo carries the most number of passengers per annum which is 1927 million passsengers, despite having only 155 kilometers of route since 1927 when it was started.

In 1976, Washington DC got its Underground railway system with 126 kilometers of route and carrying 144 million passengers per annum.

However Kyoto and Los Angeles have the shortest Underground railway system with about 11 and 28 kilometers of routes and carrying 45 and 50 million passengers per year respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main contrasts clearly: London is the oldest and has the longest route, Los Angeles is the newest, and Tokyo carries the most passengers. You also include figures for all six systems, so the response addresses the task well. The overview could be more complete, however: it does not highlight that Tokyo’s passenger total is far above the others, or that Kyoto has the fewest passengers and shortest route. Some comparisons are also imprecise; for example, Paris is described as the second-largest by route, but its passenger figure is omitted. To strengthen the summary, select the most striking comparisons and report each city’s key figures accurately and consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The information follows a generally understandable order, moving from an overview to the older, larger systems and then the newer, smaller ones. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “followed by,” “despite,” and “However” help connect points. However, the response is presented as one continuous block, and several sentences combine multiple facts, making comparisons harder to follow. The sentence about Paris, for instance, moves from route length to opening date without clearly setting out its passenger total. Grouping the cities into two paragraphs—perhaps by size or opening date—and using clearer comparison structures would create more visible progression and make the cohesion feel less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “route,” “passengers per annum,” “oldest,” and “newest,” and the meaning is generally clear. However, several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems limit precision. “Some information of” is not a natural phrase here, while “started from 2001” and “the most number of passengers” are awkward. There are also spelling errors in “kilometeres,” “annualy,” “lenght,” and “passsengers.” Use standard forms such as “kilometres,” “annually,” and “length,” and choose concise expressions such as “opened in” and “the highest annual passenger total.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including relative clauses (“which was opened in 1863”) and a concessive clause (“despite having only 155 kilometers of route”). Most relationships between ideas remain understandable, but some sentence patterns are awkward or incomplete. In “In 1976, Washington DC got its Underground railway system with 126 kilometers of route and carrying 144 million passengers,” the coordinated phrases do not match grammatically; use “with a route of 126 kilometres and 144 million passengers annually.” The final sentence also needs a clearer structure to compare Kyoto and Los Angeles. Aim for more controlled parallel constructions and check articles, verb forms, and punctuation when combining several facts.

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