Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-10

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 table chart provides the data of the underground railway system such as it's date of opening, kilometers of route and passengers per year (in millions) in six different cities.

Overall, it is crystal clear that, London had the oldest underground railway station and Los Angeles had the newest developed underground railway station. In the terms of kilometers of route London had the highest value and Kyoto had the lowest. And it is also clear that, Tokyo's underground railways had the largest number of passengers whereas, Kyoto's underground railways had the least number of passengers.

To start with, London's underground railway system there was opened in the year 1863 which was the oldest one. It travelled to 394 kilometers of route having 755 million passengers per year. However, Paris's underground railway system was initiated in the year 1900, which had travelled to199 kilometers of route and had 1191 million passengers per year. Moreover, Tokyo's underground railway system was developed in the year 1927 which travelled to 155 kilometers of route with 1972 million of passengers every year.

Furthermore, Washington DC's underground railway system was opened in 1976 which had 144 million of passengers per year and covered the distance of 126 kilometers. Additionally, the city Kyoto's underground railway system was discovered in the year 1981 which had the least number of kilometers of route that is 11 kilometers and the least number of passengers which is 45 million passengers per year. Finally, Los Angele's underground railway system was opened in the year 2001 which had 28 kilometers of route and had 50 million passengers per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all requirements of the task by identifying the main features and making relevant comparisons. You have successfully highlighted the oldest and newest systems, as well as the extremes in route length and passenger numbers. However, the report is slightly mechanical, as it lists data for each city sequentially rather than grouping them more effectively to highlight trends. While the key features are present, the comparison could be more analytical; for instance, noting the inverse relationship between the age of the system and the number of passengers in some cases would have strengthened the response. Overall, the task is addressed clearly and accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'To start with', 'Moreover', and 'Furthermore' to transition between ideas. However, some of the linking is a bit repetitive or mechanical. The paragraphing is appropriate, and there is a clear progression of information from the oldest systems to the newest. To reach a higher band, try to vary your cohesive devices and ensure that the relationships between the data points are more fluidly connected rather than just listing them one by one.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases like 'initiated in the year', 'developed in the year', and 'covered the distance of' are used effectively. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'discovered' when referring to a railway system, which is not the most precise collocation. Additionally, there are some minor errors in data transcription (e.g., writing 755 instead of 775, and 1972 instead of 1927). While these do not impede communication, they affect the precision of your report. Using more varied synonyms for 'highest' and 'lowest' would also improve the lexical score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'it's date' (should be 'its'), 'In the terms of' (should be 'In terms of'), and 'Los Angele's' (should be 'Los Angeles's'). There are also some awkward phrasings like 'there was opened in the year'. The majority of your sentences are understandable, but the frequency of these minor errors prevents a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct possessive punctuation will help improve your accuracy.

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

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