Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-12
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 table compares six underground railway system in terms of their opening gates, route length and the number of passenger they care annually.
Overall ,London has the oldest and longest underground railway systems. Loss Angeles has the newest one, Tokyo has the highest number of passengers and the Kyoto has the lowest number of passengers in underground railway system.
London underground system opened in 1863 and has the
longest route, at 394 kilometers. However, it carries only
775 million passenger annually. Paris, which opened in 1900,
has a route of 199 kilometers and 1191 million passengers each year. Tokyo system began operating route of 1927, has a route of 155 kilometers and the highest 1927 million
passengers per year.
The system in Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angles are
considerably smaller. They opened in 1976, 1981 and 2001
Their routes measure 126, 11 and 28 and annual passengers 144, 45 and 50 million.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all key features of the table, including the oldest/longest systems and passenger numbers. You successfully identified the main trends and made relevant comparisons between the older, larger systems and the newer, smaller ones. However, there are some factual inaccuracies in the reporting of data, such as stating Tokyo's system opened in 1927 but then referring to it as a 'route of 1927', and missing units for the final figures (e.g., '126, 11 and 28' should specify kilometers). To reach a higher band, ensure that data is transcribed accurately and that units are consistently provided for all figures mentioned.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is logically organized, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the oldest systems to the newer ones. Cohesive devices such as 'However' and 'Overall' are used effectively to link ideas. However, the referencing is occasionally weak, and some sentences feel slightly disjointed due to the list-like presentation of data in the final paragraph. Improving the flow between sentences by using more varied cohesive structures would enhance the overall coherence of the report.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'annually', 'operating', and 'considerably'. However, there are several word-choice errors and typos, such as 'opening gates' (instead of 'opening dates'), 'passenger they care' (instead of 'carry'), and 'Loss Angeles' (spelling error). These errors do not impede communication, but they do limit the precision of your writing. To improve, focus on using more precise terminology for data reporting and proofread carefully to avoid simple spelling and collocation mistakes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as missing articles ('the Tokyo system', 'the Kyoto'), subject-verb agreement issues ('the Kyoto has the lowest'), and punctuation errors (e.g., 'Overall ,London'). Additionally, the final sentence lacks a verb to connect the data points effectively. While these errors rarely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on article usage and sentence construction will help improve your accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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