Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-07
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 5.5)
The table illustrates the information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Out of six cities, the first one which gets the underground railway system was London. In 1863 the first underground railway system was opened in London. It had the 394 kilometers long route, and according to table it serves 775 millions passengers per year.
Afterwards in 1900, the second underground railway system was opened in 1900 Paris. It was 199 kilometers long route, and it serves 1191 million passengers per year.
Thirdly, in 1927, the third underground railway system was opened in Tokyo, which had a route of 155 kilometers, & it serves 1927 million passengers per year.
Following this, the fourth one was opened in 1976 in Washington, it had the route of 126 kilometers and serves 144 million passengers per year. After that, in 1981 kyoto underground railway system was opened & had a route of 11 kilometers & serves 45 millions passengers per year.
The sixth one was opened in 2001 in Los Angeles and had a route of 28 kilometers and serves 50 million passengers per year.
In comparison, Tokyo underground railway system serves the largest amount of passengers while the railway system of Kyoto serves the least. If we talk about the route wise London railway system had the longest route while the Kyoto railway system had the shortest.
This concludes, all the relative information about the six underground railway systems in six cities.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers all the data points provided in the table, which is a positive aspect. However, the approach is overly mechanical, listing each city chronologically rather than grouping information to highlight trends or significant comparisons. While you do include a comparison paragraph at the end, the main body paragraphs lack synthesis. To reach a higher band, you should focus on grouping cities by shared characteristics (e.g., oldest vs. newest, or those with high vs. low passenger numbers) rather than simply reciting the table row by row. This would demonstrate a better ability to select and report main features.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat repetitive and mechanical, relying heavily on 'firstly', 'secondly', and 'following this'. The transition between the chronological list and the final comparison paragraph is abrupt. To improve, try to use more varied linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through the data, rather than just listing facts. The concluding sentence is also unnecessary and does not add value to the summary.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but remains quite basic and repetitive. You frequently use phrases like 'opened in' and 'serves... passengers per year'. There is little attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary or synonyms to describe the data. For instance, instead of repeating 'opened', you could use 'commenced operations' or 'was inaugurated'. Similarly, instead of 'serves', you could use 'accommodates' or 'handles'. Expanding your range of descriptive verbs and nouns will help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. For example, 'the first one which gets the underground railway system' should be 'the first city to have an underground railway system'. There are also issues with article usage ('the table' vs 'a table') and inconsistent verb tenses. Additionally, the use of '&' is informal and should be avoided in academic writing; always use 'and'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these small errors prevents the writing from being considered highly accurate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.