Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-14

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 below provides information about the underground transportation system in six different cities. Overall, London's underground railway system was the oldest which was opened in the year 1863 with around 775 million passengers using it. While Los Angeles's station was the newest, opened in the year 2001 with only 50 million passengers using it per year.

Firstly, the highest number of passengers using the transportation facilty is in the city Tokyo with over 1927 million people accessing it. It was opened in 1927 with 155 kilometers of route. The second highest is in the city Paris with around 1191 million people using it. It was opened in 1900 with 199 kilometers of route. London is the third highest with around 775 million people using it, opened in 1863 with 394 kilometers of route.

Washington DC is the next highest with over 144 million accessing it, opened in 1976 with 126 kilometers. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is the second lowest with only 50 million passengers using it, opened in 2001 with 28 kilometers. Lastly, Kyoto has the lowest number of passengers using the railway station with only 45 million, which was opened in 1981 with around 11 kilometers of route.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all the requirements of the task by reporting on the six cities and including relevant data. You have successfully identified the main features, such as the oldest and newest systems, and the highest and lowest passenger numbers. However, the report is somewhat descriptive and lacks a more analytical approach to comparing the data. For example, you could have highlighted the inverse relationship between the age of the system and the number of passengers in some cases. While you have selected the key features, the organization of the data is a bit repetitive, listing each city individually rather than grouping them by trends or significant differences.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use transition words like 'Firstly', 'The second highest', and 'Meanwhile' to guide the reader. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. The structure relies heavily on listing facts city-by-city rather than synthesizing the information. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using more varied cohesive devices to link the data points, rather than repeating the same sentence structure for each city (e.g., 'It was opened in... with...').

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Terms like 'transportation facility', 'accessing', and 'route' are used correctly. However, the vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive. You frequently use the same phrasing ('opened in the year', 'number of passengers using it'). To reach a higher band, you should incorporate more varied synonyms and collocations related to data reporting, such as 'commenced operations', 'annual ridership', or 'extensive network'. There are no significant spelling errors, and the vocabulary used is appropriate for the context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response shows a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. You demonstrate control over basic grammar, and your meaning is always clear. There are some minor errors, such as 'Los Angeles's station' (possessive form) and the use of 'the city Tokyo' instead of 'the city of Tokyo'. While you attempt complex sentences, they are often repetitive in structure. To improve, try to vary your sentence beginnings and use more sophisticated grammatical structures, such as participial phrases or relative clauses, to combine information more fluidly.

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

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