Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-23

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 contains the details of underground Railway Systems in six major cities. The table provides key informations like date opened, distance of route and travellers using per year on the below ground railway Systems. It reveals data that some infrastuctures inagurated in very old times where some are recent one. In some cities railway complexes are preffered by travellers where as some urban cities provides longer routes compare to other cities.

In detail, London city railway transit is oldest and opened in 1863 and with 394 Kilometers it covers longest distance of route amoung other given cities. Between 1900 to 1981 many cities like Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto started the railway sytems in which Paris and Tokyo carries top two number of People per year 1191 millions and 1927 millions respectively. However, Kyoto railway is shortest one with 11 Kilometers route and trasport 45 millions people in a year. Los Angeles is latest developed railway in 2001 that runs on 28 Kilometers route and helps the 50 millions passangers to travel per year.

In conclusion, London is the oldest train systems that go through the longest route. On contrary, Los angeles is the recent development that still not greatly prefferd by travellers. Clearly, Tokyo and Paris train system is used majorly by people that developed in early 1900.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource6.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy6.0
Overall6.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making relevant comparisons. You successfully highlighted the oldest system (London), the busiest systems (Tokyo and Paris), and the most recent development (Los Angeles). However, the analysis is somewhat descriptive rather than analytical. For instance, while you mention the dates and passenger numbers, you could have more effectively grouped the cities by their characteristics (e.g., comparing the 'older' European systems with the 'newer' systems in the US and Japan). The overview is present but could be more concise and integrated to better highlight the trends across the data set.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In detail', 'However', and 'On the contrary' to guide the reader. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words and better referencing. For example, the transition between the discussion of London and the other cities could be smoother. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear, but the cohesion lacks the sophistication required for a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'inaugurated', 'transit', and 'infrastructure'. However, there are several spelling errors ('informations', 'infrastuctures', 'inagurated', 'preffered', 'trasport', 'passangers') and minor word choice issues ('very old times' instead of 'early periods'). These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, you should focus on more precise collocations and ensure accurate spelling of common academic terms. The use of 'top two number of People' is also slightly awkward and could be phrased more naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('Paris and Tokyo carries', 'London is the oldest train systems'), missing articles ('London city railway transit is oldest'), and incorrect preposition usage. While these errors rarely impede the overall meaning, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles with superlative adjectives. Your control of punctuation is generally acceptable, but the sentence structure could be more varied to demonstrate greater flexibility.

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

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