Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The table demonstrates the key data about the underground railway systems in six cities of the world. From opening date to the route length and passengers per year, it is all mentioned in an organised way. The tables shows that London has the oldest underground system of railways built in 1863 while Los Angeles built it most recently in 2001. Tokyo takes the lead in passenger accomodation with 1927 million visitors per year. On the contrary, being at the lowest, Kyoto and Los Angeles serve 45 and 50 million passengers in a year respectively. Paris has around 1191 million passengers per year, ranking it on the second number.

Talking about the route length, London has the longest route of 394 kilometers followed by Paris, which has 199 kilometer route coverage. The shortest route of underground railway system is of Kyoto with 11 Kilometers, with a little difference to Los Angeles, which has 28 Kilometer of the route. Overall, there is a variation in opening date, route coverage and passenger accomodation of each city's railway system.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key features of the table, including the opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers. You have successfully identified the oldest and newest systems, as well as the extremes in terms of passenger volume and route length. The comparison between cities is clear and relevant. To reach a higher band, ensure that you group the data more analytically rather than listing facts city by city. For instance, grouping the 'older' systems (London, Paris, Tokyo) against the 'newer' ones (Washington DC, Kyoto, Los Angeles) would provide a more sophisticated overview of the data trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. The progression of ideas is smooth, and you use cohesive devices such as 'On the contrary' and 'followed by' to link information effectively. However, the paragraphing could be improved; the second paragraph is quite long and covers two distinct categories (passengers and route length). Splitting these into separate paragraphs would enhance the clarity and structure of your report, making it easier for the reader to follow the comparison of different metrics.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'demonstrates', 'accomodation', and 'coverage'. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'passenger accomodation' (which is slightly unnatural in this context; 'passenger numbers' or 'ridership' would be better) and 'ranking it on the second number' (which is awkward phrasing). While you successfully use some less common vocabulary, the precision of your word choices could be improved to better reflect the academic nature of the task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'London has the longest route of 394 kilometers followed by Paris, which has 199 kilometer route coverage.' While there are some minor errors, such as 'The tables shows' (subject-verb agreement) and 'The shortest route... is of Kyoto' (awkward preposition usage), these do not impede communication. To improve, focus on ensuring consistent subject-verb agreement and refining the use of articles (e.g., 'the' before specific nouns). Your control of grammar is generally good, and the meaning is always clear.

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

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