Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-28

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 shows the information the six cities about the underground railway systems.

Overall, the london, paris, tokyo had the highest number of passengers per year. while washington DC kyoto, los angeles had the least number of passengers.

Firistly, the underground railway system is started in London, the date of opening is 1863. total route is 394 kilometers. Passengers are 775 millions per year. Secondly, paris system is opened in1900 with 199 kilometers and 1191 millions of passengers using per year and paris is the second most used railway system.

In 1927, tokyo railway system is started with 155 kilometers. Its is the one of the highest used system occupied with 1927 milliones of passengers. after that, washington DC which is stsrted in 1976 with 126 kilometers of route and had 144 millions of users. kyoto and los angeles startes in 1981 and 2001 respec

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the score. While you have identified the main features of the data, the report is incomplete as it cuts off abruptly at the end, failing to finish the comparison of Kyoto and Los Angeles. To improve, ensure you provide a complete summary that covers all data points provided in the table. The overview is present but lacks detail, and the lack of a conclusion or full analysis of the final two cities prevents a higher score. You must ensure all parts of the prompt are addressed fully.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay uses basic cohesive devices such as 'Firstly', 'Secondly', and 'Overall', which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by the incomplete nature of the final sentence. Paragraphing is attempted, but the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs is somewhat mechanical. To improve, focus on grouping the data more logically—perhaps by comparing the older, larger systems against the newer, smaller ones—rather than listing each city individually. This would create a more cohesive and analytical flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but remains quite repetitive and limited. You rely heavily on basic phrasing like 'the date of opening is' and 'total route is'. There are also several spelling errors, such as 'Firistly', 'milliones', and 'stsrted'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary to describe trends and comparisons, such as 'commenced', 'extensive', or 'a significant volume of passengers'. Avoid repeating the same sentence structures for each city.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with articles ('the london', 'the paris'), subject-verb agreement ('system is started'), and punctuation. The sentence structures are mostly simple, and the attempt at a complex structure in the final sentence is incomplete. To improve, focus on the correct use of articles with proper nouns and ensure that your verb tenses are consistent when describing historical data. Proofreading for basic errors like capitalization and spelling would also significantly improve the clarity of your writing.

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