Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-20
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 5.0)
The table illustrates the information about the underground railway systems in London, Paris,Tokyo,Washington, kyoto cities..In the table we can see that kyoto city has lowest passengers about 45 only which was opened in 1981 and has 11 kilometres of route..Second lowest is the Los Angeles and the number of passengers is 50...The highest passengers holding city is the Tokyo and it has 1927 passengers and it travel about 155 kilometres of route..London and Paris has 775 and 1191 passengers respectively..Most important feature of Zondon underground railway is that it is the most ancient one ,opened at 1863..lastly we have Washington DC ,which has 144 passengers and travel about 126 kilometres of route.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5
The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement score. While you have identified some key features, such as the oldest system (London) and the highest passenger volume (Tokyo), the analysis is superficial and lacks a clear overview or a structured comparison. You have listed data points rather than synthesising the information. To improve, ensure you provide a clear summary of the main trends and group the data logically rather than listing each city individually. The failure to reach the word count means the task is only partially addressed.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is written as a single paragraph, which lacks the necessary structure for an IELTS Task 1 report. There is no clear logical progression; the information is presented as a series of disconnected sentences. Cohesive devices are largely absent, and the use of punctuation is inconsistent, with frequent double periods (e.g., 'cities..') and informal phrasing. To improve, you should organise your report into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs that group related data points together. Using linking words like 'in contrast', 'meanwhile', or 'furthermore' would help improve the flow between your ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is quite basic and repetitive, relying heavily on the words provided in the prompt. There is little attempt to use a wider range of vocabulary to describe trends or comparisons. For example, you use 'lowest' and 'highest' repeatedly. Additionally, there are errors in capitalization (e.g., 'kyoto', 'tokyo') and some awkward phrasing such as 'most ancient one'. To achieve a higher band, try to incorporate more varied synonyms and precise terminology related to data description, such as 'the highest number of passengers was recorded in...' or 'in comparison to...'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The grammatical range is limited, consisting mostly of simple sentence structures. There are frequent errors in punctuation, such as the use of double periods and missing spaces after commas. Subject-verb agreement is also inconsistent, for instance, 'London and Paris has' should be 'have'. The lack of complex sentence structures prevents the demonstration of higher-level grammatical control. To improve, focus on using a variety of sentence types, including complex sentences with relative clauses or subordinating conjunctions, and pay closer attention to basic punctuation rules and subject-verb agreement.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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