Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-07

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 5.0)

The given table indicates the route in kilometers that passengers travelled per year in the population of millions .There are only six cities mentioned in the chart .In the year 1863, the passengers 775 millions travelled 394 kilometers of underground railway route in London .In Paris ,the number of people raised to 1191 million passengers per year covering 199 km in 1900 .The figures crossed to the 1927 million passengers per annum who travelled 155 kilometers of route of underground railway systems in the year 1927 in Tokyo, which is greater in number as compared to other routes and years and also other cities.

In Washington DC in the year 1976 ,there were less passengers who were to travel 126 kilometers of route as 144 million passengers in a year .Now, focusing on Kyoto that is opposite to Tokyo both in kilometers and passengers .In 1981, the passengers were 45 million per year travelling only 11kilometers.

In the end ,In Los Angeles only 50 million passengers were travelling 28 km in the year 2001.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response provides a basic overview of the data, but it fails to effectively summarise the main features or make meaningful comparisons. The student lists the data for each city sequentially rather than grouping information to highlight trends or contrasts. For example, the report mentions Tokyo's high passenger numbers but does not contrast this with the much smaller route length in Kyoto or Los Angeles. The overview is missing, as the introduction merely describes the table rather than identifying the key trends, such as the inverse relationship between the age of the system and passenger volume in some cases.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited and sometimes awkward, such as 'Now, focusing on Kyoto' and 'In the end, In Los Angeles'. The referencing is occasionally unclear, and the transition between sentences feels like a list of facts rather than a cohesive report. While the paragraphing is present, the internal structure of the paragraphs lacks logical flow, making the text feel disjointed.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There is repetitive use of basic phrases like 'passengers per year' and 'kilometres of route'. Some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'the passengers 775 millions travelled', which is grammatically and lexically awkward. The student does not demonstrate the ability to use less common vocabulary or varied collocations to describe statistical trends, relying instead on simple, repetitive structures to convey the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, such as 'the passengers 775 millions travelled' and 'the figures crossed to the 1927 million passengers'. Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly with spacing around commas and periods. While the meaning is generally understandable, the lack of complex structures and the presence of persistent errors in basic syntax and word order limit the score in this criterion.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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