Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-22
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)
The table provides data for comparison of underground railway system in six nations London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles.
Overall, the older underground railway system have higher number of passengers per year in contrast to the newer railway system. Furthermore, kilometers of route have a higher count in older system as compared to newer railway system.
Tokyo railway system was built in 1927 with 155 kilometers of route having the highest passengers per year at 1927 million. Paris has the second highest passenger per year volume at 1191 million with 199 kilometers of route. London, the oldest underground railway system constructed in 1863 has the longest route with 384 kilometers and 775 million passenger per year.
The newer railway system have lower passenger volume. Washington DC has 144 million passenger per year. Kyoto and Los Angeles built in 1981 and 2001 has lower passenger volume at 45 and 50 million passenger per year respectively. The shortest underground railway system route is 11 kilometers.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response provides a clear overview and selects key features, such as the contrast between older and newer systems. However, the analysis is slightly inaccurate in its generalisation; for example, you state that older systems have a higher count of kilometers, but Paris (1900) has fewer kilometers than London (1863), and Tokyo (1927) has fewer than both. Furthermore, the data for London's route length is cited as 384km, whereas the table states 394km. While the main trends are identified, more precise data handling and a more nuanced comparison would improve the score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'In contrast to', and 'respectively' are used to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas within the second body paragraph is slightly disjointed. The transition between the general statement about newer systems and the specific data for Washington DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately, and the overall structure is clear and easy to follow.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task. You use terms like 'underground railway system', 'volume', and 'constructed' effectively. However, there are some repetitive phrases, such as 'railway system' and 'passenger per year'. There are also minor errors in word form, such as 'passenger volume' (should be plural 'passengers') and 'older underground railway system have' (should be 'systems have'). To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more varied synonyms for 'system' and 'volume' and ensure consistent pluralization.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that persist, such as subject-verb agreement issues: 'older underground railway system have' (should be 'systems have') and 'Kyoto and Los Angeles... has' (should be 'have'). Additionally, there are minor punctuation and article errors, such as 'in six nations London' (missing a colon or dash). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score. Increasing the variety of complex structures while ensuring subject-verb agreement would be beneficial.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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