Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-15

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)

Here the given table illustrates information about underground railway station in six cities.

Overall, despite having oldest railway station in London it has more kilometres of route and passengers compared to kyoto which has least. Tokyo recorded for most passengers among all.

To commence with, Paris railway station was established in 1900 and covers 199 kilometres of route with 1191 passengers. Moreover, London has oldest railway station which was opened in 1863 and have 396km route with 775 million yearly travelers. In contrast Los Angeles opened recently in 2001 and has only 28 km route along with 50 million passengers.

Furthermore, Tokyo railway station had been built in 1927 and has 155 kilometres of route and 1927 million passengers travel yearly in this station. Washington DC opened in 1976 with the route of 126 kilometres followed by 144 million passengers. Lastly, Kyoto opened in 1981 and has shortest route of 11 kilometres and 45 million yearly passengers.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response provides a clear overview and covers all six cities mentioned in the table. You successfully identified the main features, such as the oldest system (London) and the highest passenger volume (Tokyo). However, the comparison could be more analytical; for instance, you mention the data for each city individually rather than grouping them by trends or significant differences. While you correctly identified the extremes, the report would benefit from more explicit comparisons between cities of similar ages or sizes to better highlight the relationships between the date opened, route length, and passenger numbers.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use basic cohesive devices such as 'To commence with', 'Moreover', and 'In contrast' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly repetitive. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using more varied referencing (e.g., 'the former', 'the latter') to avoid repeating the city names or 'railway station' so frequently. Overall, the progression of information is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information, using terms like 'established', 'recorded', and 'yearly travelers'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'Tokyo recorded for most passengers' (should be 'recorded the most') and '1927 million passengers travel yearly in this station' (the data refers to the system, not a single station). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary related to data description, such as 'surpassed', 'accounted for', or 'a significant disparity'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'despite having oldest railway station' (missing articles), 'London... have 396km' (subject-verb agreement), and 'Tokyo railway station had been built' (tense usage). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on article usage (the/a/an) and ensure subject-verb agreement is consistent throughout your writing. Your control of punctuation is generally good, which helps maintain clarity.

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

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