Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-10

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 table provide the data about underground railway system in different cities, including the year they opened, the length of routes and the number of passengers carry every year.

London's underground railway system was opened in 1863, considered as oldest among all six cities. It also has the longest route, at 394 Kilometers and severs 775 million passengers annually. Paris which started underground railway system in 1900. It has an average route, at has a route, at 199 Kilometers and give services to 1191 million customers in 12 months.

Tokyo's has started operating underground railway system in 1927, with a 155 Kilometers track. It has highest number of passengers at 1927 million yearly. Washington DC opened in 1976, with 126 kilometers routes and 144 passengers yearly.

Kyoto was opened in 1981 and has lowest routes at 11 kilometers among all cities. It has almost less than 50 million customers of each year. Los Angele was newest system in 2001, with 28 Kilometers of trach and has 50 million passengers yearly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all the data points provided in the table, including the dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers for all six cities. You have successfully identified the main features, such as London being the oldest and having the longest route, and Tokyo having the highest passenger volume. However, the analysis could be improved by grouping the data more effectively rather than listing each city sequentially. While you make some comparisons, such as noting Kyoto has the lowest route length, the report would benefit from more sophisticated synthesis of the data to highlight trends or groupings between the older and newer systems.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the information. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical, relying on a repetitive structure for each city. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often basic or slightly misused, such as the transition 'Paris which started...' which is a sentence fragment. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to connect the data points more fluidly rather than simply stating facts one after another.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have used an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, including terms like 'annually', 'operating', and 'customers'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'severs' instead of 'serves', 'give services to' instead of 'serves', and 'trach' instead of 'track'. These errors do not impede communication, but they indicate a need for more precise vocabulary usage. To reach a higher band, focus on using more academic collocations and ensuring accurate spelling of technical terms related to transport.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the accuracy of the writing. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('The table provide', 'Tokyo's has started'), missing articles ('has highest number'), and sentence fragments ('Paris which started...'). While these errors rarely prevent the reader from understanding the data, they are frequent enough to limit the score. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement and ensuring that every sentence contains a main verb and a complete thought.

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