Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-04

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 6.0)

The table provides information on the underground railway systems in terms of their city, the length of the route, which year the railway system started and passengers travelling annually.

The oldest and most extensive system is located in London. Started in 1863, has a route length of 394 km and carries around 775 million passengers annually. Despite being the oldest and most extensive railway route passengers travelling annually is much less compared to Paris and Tokyo which opened much later in time.

Paris's network started in 1900 and routes laid across 199 km carries around 1191 million passengers annually making it the second busiest system, whereas Tokyo's route that started around 1927, having much less route length compared to London or Paris, has around 155 km, is the most used routes. Here passenger count reachs upto 1927 million annually. Further, Washington DC's route was laid on 1976 and has a network spread of 126 km carries 144 million passengers annually.

The two most new stations Kyoto and Los Angeles are by far the smallest routes and least used ones too. Started on 1981 and 2001, has a network spread around 11 and 28 km, and carries around 45 and 50 million passengers annually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main features of the data and provided relevant comparisons, such as contrasting the oldest system (London) with the busiest (Tokyo). You covered all six cities and included the key metrics provided in the table. To improve, ensure you provide a clear overview paragraph that highlights the most significant trends, such as the inverse relationship between the age of the system and the number of passengers. Currently, your overview is integrated into the body paragraphs, which makes it harder for the reader to identify the main trends immediately. Overall, you have addressed all parts of the task effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized, with each paragraph focusing on a specific grouping of cities (the oldest, the busiest, and the newest). You use some cohesive devices, such as 'despite', 'whereas', and 'further', to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by slightly awkward phrasing, such as 'routes laid across 199 km carries', where the grammatical connection between the subject and the verb is weak. Using more varied transition signals and ensuring that your sentences flow more smoothly into one another would help elevate your score in this criterion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly, using terms like 'extensive', 'network', and 'annually'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'most new stations' (should be 'newest systems') and 'passenger count reachs upto' (should be 'reaches up to'). Additionally, the repetition of 'route' and 'system' suggests a limited range of synonyms. Incorporating more precise academic vocabulary, such as 'commuter volume' or 'infrastructure', would demonstrate a more sophisticated control of language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text. For example, 'Started in 1863, has a route length' lacks a subject, and 'routes laid across 199 km carries' contains a subject-verb agreement error. There are also minor punctuation and spelling issues, such as 'reachs' and 'upto'. To reach a higher band, you need to ensure that your complex sentences are constructed accurately and that you consistently check for subject-verb agreement and proper sentence fragments.

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

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