Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-13

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 4.0)

The given below information of cities which gives the data of the underground Railway and kilometers of rote and passengers data of per annual.

In London date of opened at 1863 and kilometers of route was 394 and passengers travel pre year was 775 million in Paris 1900 the date of open underground railway and kilometers travel by route was 199 and passengers pre year how travel through underground railway was 1191 million and in Tokyo 1927 the date open of underground railway and kilometers of route was 155km traveled and the passengers traveled through the year numbers was 1927 million and it was the highest of passengers pre year data then other cities.

in Washington Dc opened in 1976 and kilometers travel thrugh this year was 126km and passengers how traveled through pre year was 144 million.

Kyoto in 1981 opened and kilometers of rough was 11 and passengers pre year traveld was 45 kilometers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response attempts to report the data but fails to provide a clear overview or meaningful comparisons. It essentially lists the data for each city sequentially rather than grouping information or identifying key trends, such as the relationship between the age of the system and its size or usage. The summary lacks an introductory overview and fails to highlight the most significant features, such as Tokyo having the highest passenger numbers despite not being the oldest system. The information is presented in a repetitive, list-like manner, which does not meet the requirement to 'summarise' and 'compare' the data effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text lacks logical progression. It is composed of a series of disjointed sentences that simply repeat the data from the table. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link ideas or compare cities; for instance, the transition between cities is abrupt and repetitive. Paragraphing is poor, with the text appearing as a collection of loosely connected statements rather than a structured report. The lack of an overview or a concluding summary further hinders the overall coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary is very limited and repetitive. The student relies heavily on the words provided in the prompt (e.g., 'date of opened', 'kilometers of route', 'passengers per year'). There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'passengers pre year how travel' and 'kilometers of rough'. The range of vocabulary is insufficient to demonstrate any flexibility or precision, and the persistent misuse of basic terms makes the text difficult to follow at times.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that impede communication. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, and the simple sentences used are often poorly constructed (e.g., 'The given below information of cities which gives the data...'). Issues include incorrect verb forms ('date of opened'), misuse of prepositions, and awkward phrasing ('passengers pre year how travel'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with run-on sentences and a lack of proper sentence boundaries. The grammatical control is weak, and errors are present in almost every sentence.

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

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