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 table chart shows information about underground railway system in six cities.

Overall, in chart first city is London opened date 1863 and kilometers of route 394. 775 millions Passengers per year travel in underground railway. Paris is started in 1900 and 199 kilometre travel route. 1191 millions passengers per year travel in underground railway.

Other cities like tokyo started in 1927 and 155 kilometers travel. 1927 millions passengers per year travel underground railway. Washington DC is started in 1976 and 126 kilometers track travel. 144 millions passengers per year travel in underground railway. Kyoto is started in 1981 and 11 kilometers route 45 millions passengers per year travel in underground railway. Last city is los Angeles started in 2001 and 28 kilometers route. 144 millions passengers per year travel in underground railway.

The highest passengers is 1927 millions in Tokyo city and the lowest passengers is 45 millions in kyoto city.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all the cities and data points provided in the table. However, the approach is purely descriptive and lacks a clear analytical structure. Instead of grouping or comparing the data, the student lists the information city by city in a repetitive manner. While the main features are identified, the lack of a clear overview and the failure to synthesize the data effectively limits the score. The final sentence attempts a comparison, but the overall task achievement is hampered by the mechanical listing of facts rather than a cohesive summary.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organized into a single, long paragraph, which makes it difficult to follow. There is a lack of logical progression or paragraphing. Cohesive devices are almost entirely absent; the text relies on repetitive sentence structures (e.g., 'X is started in Y and Z kilometers...'). There is no effective use of linking words to connect ideas or compare the cities. The flow is mechanical, and the lack of paragraph breaks significantly impacts the readability and logical structure of the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is very limited and repetitive. The student uses the same phrases repeatedly, such as 'travel in underground railway' and 'started in'. There is no attempt to use a range of vocabulary to describe trends or data. Words like 'kilometers of route' are used correctly, but the overall lexical range is insufficient to demonstrate the flexibility required for higher bands. The repetition of 'millions passengers per year' indicates a restricted vocabulary that does not allow for precise reporting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response consists almost entirely of simple sentences with frequent grammatical errors. There are issues with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'The highest passengers is'), incorrect verb forms (e.g., 'Paris is started'), and missing articles. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with capitalization errors (e.g., 'tokyo', 'kyoto'). There is no evidence of complex sentence structures, and the grammatical errors are frequent enough to occasionally cause confusion, although the meaning remains generally clear due to the simplicity of the data being presented.

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

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