Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-06
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 given tabular chart represents data about subway stations in six various cities.
Commencing with the oldest underground system with the route length of 394 kilometres , opened in London during 1863 which has 775 million passengers every year . By contrast, Los Angeles has the latest built railway system (2001) with 28 kilometres long route and 50 million passengers per year.
However, the railway system of Paris is the second oldest system opened in 1900 which is 199 kilometres long and 1191 passengers use it every year. With the route length of 155 kilometres, the railway system of Tokyo was introduced in 1927 which is now get travelled by 1927 million passengers annually.
Having opened in 1976 , the subway system of Washington DC is 126 kilometres long and 144 million people pass through it each year . Eventually, Kyoto’s 11 kilometres long railway system was introduced in 1981 and is used by 45 million passengers annually.
Overall, London has the oldest and longest railway system whereas , maximum number of people pass through Tokyo’s railway system.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all parts of the task by reporting on the six cities and including relevant comparisons. The main features, such as London being the oldest and Tokyo having the highest passenger numbers, are identified. However, the report is somewhat mechanical, listing data for each city sequentially rather than grouping them more effectively to highlight trends or significant contrasts. While the overview is present, it could be more analytical by focusing on the relationship between the age of the system and its usage. The data is accurately represented, and the response meets the requirements of the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs for the data, and a summary overview. Cohesive devices such as 'By contrast', 'However', and 'Overall' are used to guide the reader. However, the paragraphing is slightly fragmented, with some paragraphs containing only one or two sentences. The flow between sentences is generally clear, but the transition between the individual city descriptions could be smoother to avoid a list-like feel. The use of referencing is generally accurate, though the structure could benefit from more varied cohesive links to improve the overall flow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing for clear communication of the data. The student uses terms like 'commencing', 'annually', and 'introduced' appropriately. However, there is a lack of variety in reporting verbs and descriptive phrases, leading to some repetition. For instance, 'railway system' is used repeatedly. There are also minor errors in word choice, such as 'which is now get travelled by', which is awkward and unnatural. To reach a higher band, the student should aim for more precise collocations and a wider range of synonyms to describe the data points.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While many sentences are clear, there are several grammatical slips that affect the quality of the writing. For example, 'which is now get travelled by' is grammatically incorrect, and '1191 passengers' is missing the 'million' unit mentioned in the prompt. Punctuation is generally functional, though there are some unnecessary spaces before commas, such as in '1863 ,'. Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout, and the errors do not impede communication. A greater variety of complex structures would help improve the score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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