Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The given table gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities namely, London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angles. The table persist of four columns that reveals about the name of the city, date opened, kilometers of route and passengers per year. Among the 6 cities, Tokyo has the oldest underground railway systems that was established in the year 1927, this route extends for 155 kilometers and serves 1927 million passengers annually. The shortest route stretches for 11 kilometers that serves 45 million passengers per year for Kyoto city. The latest underground railway systems was built in Los Angles in the year 2001 that traverses 28 kilometers serving 50 million passengers in a year. The rest of the cities like London, Paris and Washington DC's underground railway system was inaugrated in the year 1863, 1900 and 1976 respectively. they extends their routes that spans for 394 kms, 199 kms and 126 kms.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features of the six cities. However, there is a significant factual error in the analysis: you stated that Tokyo is the oldest system (1927), whereas the table clearly shows London opened in 1863. Furthermore, the comparison is somewhat mechanical, listing data for each city rather than synthesising the information effectively. To improve, focus on grouping the data (e.g., comparing the oldest/largest systems with the newer/smaller ones) to provide a more analytical overview. The summary of the data is accurate in most places, but the misinterpretation of the 'Date opened' column limits the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into a single paragraph, which makes it difficult to follow. A clear introduction followed by distinct paragraphs for different features (e.g., one for the oldest/largest systems and one for the newer/smaller ones) would improve the logical flow. While you use some cohesive devices like 'Among the 6 cities' and 'respectively', the overall progression is somewhat repetitive. The transition between sentences is often mechanical, and the lack of paragraphing makes the text feel like a list of facts rather than a cohesive report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'inaugurated', 'traverses', and 'annually'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, such as 'persist' instead of 'consists', 'Los Angles' (repeated spelling error for Los Angeles), and 'inaugrated' (spelling). These errors do not impede communication, but they do prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations and ensure consistent spelling of proper nouns provided in the prompt.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the table persist', 'they extends their routes') and punctuation errors (comma splices). While the meaning is generally clear, these frequent errors in basic grammar and verb forms are noticeable. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and ensure that plural subjects are matched with the correct verb forms. Increasing the variety of complex structures while maintaining accuracy will help raise your score.

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

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