Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-21

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 give data tells us about under ground railway systems in six cities . Railway is a way of transport where no traffic disturbs your journey to your destination .There are two types where this trains work ,one of them is underground railway system.

The first underground railway station was opened in the year 1863 in London.Paris is a small city but it has 199 kilometers of routes.Most passengers per year are 1927 million which is in Tokyo .Washington DC was also not behind in the opening of underground railway station,hence opened in the year 1976.Kyoto is one of the cities with the least kilometers of routes and only 45 million passengers per year. If we talk about the latest constructed underground railway system then it would be of Los Angeles,opened in 2001 the kilometers of routes are 28 and 50 million passengers.

To conclude ,we can say that the first underground railway system was opened in 1863.The city with most passengers per year is Paris , which is 1191 million .Recently opened underground railway system was in year 2001.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all six cities and the three categories provided in the table. However, the analysis is superficial and lacks a clear overview of the main trends. The student fails to make meaningful comparisons, such as noting the inverse relationship between the age of the system and the number of passengers. Furthermore, there is a significant factual error in the conclusion: the student states Paris has the most passengers (1191 million), whereas the table clearly shows Tokyo has the highest at 1927 million. This inaccuracy negatively impacts the task achievement score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The introduction includes irrelevant background information about traffic that does not relate to the data. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often mechanical or misused, such as 'hence opened in the year 1976' and 'If we talk about'. The conclusion is repetitive and contains contradictory information compared to the body paragraphs, which disrupts the flow of the argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. Phrases like 'The give data' (should be 'given') and 'Most passengers per year are' indicate a lack of precision. There is little attempt to use academic or topic-specific vocabulary to describe trends or data points. The student relies on basic sentence structures to present the figures, which restricts the ability to demonstrate a wider range of lexical items. Spelling errors such as 'under ground' (should be 'underground') also occur.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. While there are some attempts at complex sentences, they are often grammatically flawed, such as 'The city with most passengers per year is Paris , which is 1191 million'. Punctuation is inconsistent, particularly with spacing around commas. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'where this trains work' and 'in year 2001'. These errors are noticeable and occasionally distract the reader.

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