Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-01

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 pictorial representation illustrate the detail about the underground railway organization in six cities

Overall,it can be noticed that the on major thing is the tokyo made most score of the year and the least one is only 45 made by kyoto.

Firstly,there are several cities who arranged the underground railway station such as London Paris tokyo washing dc kyoto and los Angeles. Moreover the highest score made passengers per year in millions is tokyo the second score got to Paris and passed the 199 kilometres in 1900.

Furthermore,the another thing is lowest score got kyoto and passed through 11 kilometers.in contrast,London and los get too difference to passanger per year about 1863and 2001.one noticable thing is London passed more kilometer compared to the several one.

AI examiner evaluation

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 the student attempts to identify some key features, such as the highest and lowest figures for passengers and route length, the reporting is fragmented and lacks a clear, analytical overview. The data is not always accurately presented; for instance, the comparison between London and Los Angeles is confusing and does not clearly relate to the provided table. The response lacks a systematic approach to comparing the six cities, leading to an under-developed summary that does not fully address the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay lacks a logical structure. While there is an attempt at paragraphing, the progression of ideas is disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often misused or mechanical, such as 'Moreover' and 'Furthermore', which do not effectively link the information. The referencing is frequently unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparison between the cities. The overall arrangement is not sufficiently coherent to support a higher band score, as the relationships between the data points are not clearly established.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The range of vocabulary is very limited and often inaccurate. The student relies on basic terms and struggles with appropriate collocations, such as 'made most score' instead of 'highest number of passengers' or 'passed the 199 kilometres' instead of 'covered 199 kilometers'. There are also issues with word choice, such as 'organization' to describe a railway system. The vocabulary is insufficient to convey the information with precision, and the frequent errors in word formation and usage impede the clarity of the report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that affect readability. There are issues with sentence structure, such as run-on sentences and missing articles (e.g., 'the tokyo', 'the another thing'). Punctuation is inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and periods. The range of structures is limited, consisting mostly of simple sentences with errors in verb tense and subject-verb agreement. While the meaning is generally discernible, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar prevents the response from reaching a higher band.

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

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