Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-01

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 7.0)

The table illustrates the underground railway systems in six cities.

Overall, Tokyo recorded more passengers per year making it the busiest route while Kyoto was the least used route. Additionally, London was the first railway to be opened while Los Angeles was the most recent.

London was opened in 1863 as the first railway system. This was followed by Paris in 1900 and Tokyo in 1927. The most recent route is Los Angeles which was opened in 2001, followed by Kyoto 1981 and Washington DC 1976. Kyoto was the shortest with only 11 kilometers while London was the longest with 394 kilometers.

According to passengers per year, Tokyo was the busiest route with 1927 passengers. This was followed by Paris and London each recording 1191 and 775 passengers respectively. On the other hand, Kyoto had only 45 passengers while Los Angeles and Washington DC had 50 and 144 passengers each.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all key features of the table, including dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers. You have successfully identified the extremes (e.g., Tokyo as the busiest, Kyoto as the shortest) and made relevant comparisons. However, the report could be improved by grouping the data more analytically rather than listing facts city by city. For instance, comparing the older, larger systems with the newer, smaller ones would provide a more sophisticated overview. The data is accurate, and the summary is clear, meeting the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0. I have awarded a 6.5 as the analysis is somewhat descriptive rather than fully comparative.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from historical data to current usage statistics. You use cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'On the other hand', and 'This was followed by' to link sentences effectively. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information. To reach a higher band, ensure that the transition between sentences feels more natural and less mechanical, as some of the sentence structures are quite repetitive in their construction.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'illustrated', 'recorded', and 'respectively' correctly. However, the vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive. For example, you use the word 'route' repeatedly to refer to the railway systems, which is not entirely accurate in context. To improve, try to incorporate more varied synonyms for 'system', 'busiest', or 'opened'. The errors present do not impede communication, but the range is not yet broad enough for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are grammatically accurate, and the meaning is always clear. There are minor issues, such as the phrasing 'Tokyo recorded more passengers per year making it the busiest route', which would benefit from a comma or a relative clause. Additionally, the unit of measurement for passengers is 'millions', which you omitted in your final paragraph, leading to a factual inaccuracy regarding the scale of the data. Despite this, the control of grammar is generally good.

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