Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-08

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 given information of underground railway systems in different metropolitans.

Overall, London has the oldest and most extensive railway system with the coverage of maximum kilometers of route. While, Los Angeles has the latest underground railways system.

London stood first with the enormous routes which covered 394 km and approximately 775 million people travelled in a year, has been established in 1863. Paris opened their railway transit system in 1900 which covered 199 km distance and 1911 million human beings travelled every year. Lately Tokyo opened their trains is 1927 although having low route as compared to Tokyo and Paris about 155 km, maximum number of people travelled in these transit about 1927 million.

Washington DC established underground railways in 1976 with 126km route and 144 million people travelled every single year. Meanwhile, Kyoto and Los Angeles open their railways system for public in 1981 and 2001, Kyoto covered minimum route of 11km and only 45million numbers of people used this every year, Los Angeles extended 28 km route with 50 million individuals travelled annually in this transit system.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all the data points provided in the table. You have successfully identified the main features, such as London having the oldest system and the most extensive route, and Tokyo having the highest number of passengers. However, the overview is slightly weak; it could be improved by mentioning the clear contrast between the older European systems and the newer systems in the Americas and Japan. Additionally, there are some factual inaccuracies in your reporting, such as stating Paris has 1911 million passengers when the table shows 1191 million, and misinterpreting the Tokyo passenger data. Accuracy in data transcription is vital for this task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the information. However, the progression of ideas is somewhat mechanical. The use of cohesive devices is limited and occasionally awkward, such as 'While, Los Angeles has...' starting a sentence. The transition between the description of London and Paris is abrupt. To improve, try using a wider variety of linking words to connect your comparisons more fluidly, and ensure that each paragraph has a clear thematic focus rather than just listing city data sequentially.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information, using terms like 'metropolitans', 'transit system', and 'annually'. However, there are some issues with word choice and collocation. For example, 'enormous routes' is not the most natural way to describe distance, and 'human beings' is an overly formal and slightly odd choice in this context; 'passengers' or 'commuters' would be more appropriate. There are also minor errors in phrasing, such as 'opened their trains is 1927'. Expanding your range of descriptive verbs and adverbs would help elevate your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. For instance, 'London... has been established in 1863' should be 'was established', and 'Kyoto and Los Angeles open their railways' should be in the past tense. There are also punctuation errors, such as the comma splice in '...travelled in a year, has been established in 1863'. Improving your control over tense consistency and sentence punctuation will significantly improve your accuracy.

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

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