Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)
The data presents the information about the opening date, the route length, and the number of passengers per year for several underground railway systems in six different countries.
Overall, London has the earliest railway track with the highest route length than the other cities, whereas the number of passengers per year is higher in Tokyo, while Paris stood at the second place.
London railway system is the oldest system opened in 1863, acquiring the length of 394 km with 775 millions of passengers per year. However, railway system of Paris was built in 1900, having the length of route 199 km, while the number of passengers are 1191 per year. For Tokyo, the railway system was established in 1927 with the route length of 155 km and it featured the significant number of passengers, at 1927 millions per year highest among all the cities shown in the table.
In Washington DC, the underground railway system was constructed in 1976. It has 126-km route length, ranked at 4th place, while it featured 144 million passengers per year. The railway system of Kyoto was built in 1981, featuring the 11-km route length with the number of 45 million passengers per year. Finally, Los Angeles' railway system was introduced in 2001. It has the route length of 28 km, showing the 50 million passengers per year which is higher than Kyoto.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 6.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5
The response covers all key features of the table, including the opening dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers. You have successfully identified the oldest system (London) and the busiest (Tokyo). The overview provides a clear summary of the main trends. However, there is a minor inaccuracy in the overview: you stated London has the 'highest route length than the other cities', but the comparison is slightly awkward. Additionally, ensure that all data points are accurate; for instance, you mentioned '1191 per year' for Paris, but the table specifies '1191 million'. Precision with units is vital in Task 1.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5
The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs that group the cities effectively. The use of cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Finally', and 'whereas' helps the flow of information. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the older systems from the more recently established ones. To improve, ensure that referencing is always clear; for example, in the final paragraph, the comparison between Los Angeles and Kyoto is clear, but the transition could be smoother to avoid a list-like feel.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the data, using terms like 'established', 'constructed', and 'featured'. There are some minor issues with collocation and precision, such as 'acquiring the length of 394 km' (a better choice would be 'spanning' or 'covering') and 'the number of 45 million passengers' (which is slightly redundant). While the vocabulary is adequate for the task, incorporating more sophisticated descriptors for trends or comparisons would elevate the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'the number of passengers are 1191' (should be 'is' to agree with 'number') and '775 millions of passengers' (should be '775 million passengers'). Despite these errors, the meaning remains clear throughout, and the punctuation is generally accurate. To reach a higher band, focus on subject-verb agreement and ensure that pluralization of units like 'million' is handled correctly when used as an adjective.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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