Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-07-30

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 6.5)

The given tabular chart depicts the information about the underground railway systems in London, Paris, and other four cities. The data has been calibrated into millions.

Overall, it is crystal clear that the passengers per year was highest in Tokyo while the lowest passengers were in Kyoto.

At the fleeting glance, in London passengers per year was 775 millions and date opened was 1863 followed by 394 kilometers of route. In Paris, the rate of travelers increases to 1191 millions and 199 of route in 1900. On the other hand, passengers in Tokyo gradually incline to 1927 having date opened 1927

In addition, kilometers of route was around 126 while opened date were 1976 in Washington DC in which passengers did not surpass by 144 millions. Moreover, in Kyoto opened in 1981 had 11 kilometers of route in which passengers per year sharply decline to 45 millions only. Lastly, in year 2001 underground railway system in Los angles covered 28 kilometers and passengers sharply go down to 50.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all the required data points and identifies the main features, such as the highest and lowest passenger numbers. However, the analysis is somewhat mechanical, simply listing data for each city rather than making meaningful comparisons. For instance, the report mentions Tokyo's high passenger numbers but fails to contrast this effectively with the much smaller route length compared to London. The overview is present but could be more analytical. To improve, focus on grouping cities by trends (e.g., older vs. newer systems) rather than describing them one by one.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is an attempt to use cohesive devices like 'Overall', 'In addition', and 'On the other hand'. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed. The use of 'At the fleeting glance' is an unnatural collocation, and some transitions feel forced. The referencing is generally clear, but the progression of ideas within paragraphs is repetitive, as the structure relies heavily on listing facts rather than synthesizing information. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between comparisons would enhance the coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward word choices, such as 'calibrated into millions' (which is inaccurate) and 'rate of travelers increases' (when describing static data). The phrase 'sharply decline' and 'sharply go down' are used incorrectly, as the data represents a snapshot in time rather than a trend over time. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise terminology for data reporting, such as 'figures', 'statistics', or 'proportions', and avoid using dynamic verbs for static data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('passengers per year was', 'date opened were'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward phrasing ('passengers did not surpass by 144 millions'). Some sentences are grammatically incomplete or confusing, such as 'in which passengers did not surpass by 144 millions'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors impacts the overall fluency and accuracy of the writing. Focusing on basic sentence construction and proofreading for subject-verb agreement would be beneficial.

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