Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-03

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 debate about the underground railway systems in several cities. In below paragraphs i will summarize the information and also discuss the main features of the table.

Well, there are many cities in this table such as London and Tokyo. The table contains the passengers of year that are counted in millions. Moreover, the table tells us about the kilometers of the every route.

The Highest of this table is Tokyo city. Around 1927 million passengers travel through train in 1927 and the kilometers are 155. On the other hand, the lowest figure of this table is Kyoto. In 1981, around 45 million people cover their distance by train and kilometers of the route are 11 only.

In 1900, around 1191 million persons travel by underground railway. 144 million people of Washington DC travel by underground train in year 1976 while Los Angeles 50 million people travel in 2001. this's the only year of 21st century.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response addresses the task by identifying some key features, such as the highest and lowest figures for passengers and route length. However, the report is largely descriptive rather than analytical. It fails to make meaningful comparisons between the cities, instead listing data points in isolation. The overview is missing, and the information is not grouped logically (e.g., comparing older systems like London and Paris with newer ones like Los Angeles). The interpretation of the data is also slightly inaccurate, as the student confuses the date opened with the number of passengers in the Tokyo example.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is disjointed. The introduction is informal and does not clearly state what the table represents. Cohesive devices are very limited and often used incorrectly, such as the transition 'Well, there are many cities...' which is inappropriate for an academic report. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the flow between sentences is mechanical, making the text feel like a list of facts rather than a cohesive summary.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is basic and repetitive. Phrases like 'The table tells us about' and 'around... million people' are used repeatedly. There is a lack of variety in reporting verbs or comparative language (e.g., 'significantly higher', 'the oldest system'). Some word choices are inaccurate, such as 'The Highest of this table is Tokyo city', which is grammatically awkward and imprecise. The range is just sufficient to convey the basic meaning but lacks the flexibility required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies heavily on simple sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, including missing articles ('in 1927 million passengers'), incorrect verb usage ('The table debate'), and punctuation issues ('this's'). While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of complex structures and the persistence of basic errors limit the score. The control over sentence construction is inconsistent, and the writing lacks the precision expected in an academic context.

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

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