Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-08-24
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 below illustrates about the underground railway system in 6 cities.
Overall, the table presents the city name, date opened, kilometers of route and passengers per year (in millions) of all the 6 cities all over the world. Tokyo shows a good result in all aspects .
Tokyo is the country which has high number of passengers per year when compared to others, that is 1927 million. Kyoto has the least passengers per year of 45 million. The cities Washington DC and Los Angeles have almost similar passengers per year .
Now, coming to the route in kilometers London comprises the highest with 394 kilometers . The cities Paris, Tokyo and Washington DC have almost nearer or similar number of kilometers. Kyoto has the small route which is of 11 kilometers.
London city had the oldest opened date which is (1863). Cities like Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto all have the opening date in the years between 1899 and 1990. The most recently established city is Los Angeles.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main features of the table. You have successfully highlighted the extremes, such as Tokyo's passenger volume and London's route length. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For instance, you mention that Tokyo shows a 'good result' in all aspects, which is subjective and not analytical. To reach a higher band, you should focus on making more precise comparisons between the cities rather than listing data points in isolation. The overview is present but lacks a clear synthesis of the data trends, such as the relationship between the age of the system and its scale.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, each focusing on a specific category (passengers, route, date). This makes the information easy to follow. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and repetitive (e.g., 'The cities...'). There is a lack of sophisticated linking words to connect ideas between sentences and paragraphs. While the progression of ideas is clear, the transition between the different data sets could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the overall flow feels a bit disjointed due to the simple sentence structures used throughout.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic descriptors like 'good result', 'high number', and 'small route'. To improve, you should use more academic terminology related to data analysis, such as 'significant', 'substantial', 'minimal', or 'proportionate'. There are no major spelling errors, but the range of vocabulary is limited to the words provided in the prompt. Incorporating more precise synonyms for 'high' or 'low' and using collocations related to statistics would significantly enhance the quality of your writing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical inaccuracies. For example, 'illustrates about' is incorrect (it should be 'illustrates'), and 'Tokyo is the country' is factually incorrect as Tokyo is a city. There are also issues with article usage and prepositions, such as 'the small route which is of 11 kilometers'. The sentence structures are somewhat repetitive, and you should aim to vary your sentence beginnings and use more complex grammatical forms, such as relative clauses or passive voice, to improve the overall sophistication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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