Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-12

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 delineates the data about the starting date, length (in kilometers) and the number of passengers commute every year (in millions) in the underground railway structures in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, commuters of Tokyo used the railway infrastructure the most followed by Paris and London while, other other countries recorded much lower figures. Moreover, London exhibited as the longest route in addition of being the oldest system. However, the length of routes reduced drastically over time.

Building on 1863, with 394 kilometers in length, there were 775 millions of commuters travelled in this railway system in London. after 37 years later, when the Paris constructed their systems. Although, the route (199 kilometers) was smaller than London, every year 1191 millions people used it. After the commencement in 1927, Tokyo witnessed a surge in passengers number with 1927 millions even though it was only 155 kilometers long.

Meanwhile, the figure of passengers number was considerably lower when Washington DC, Koyto and Los Angeles started the systems in 1976,1981 and 2001 with the route route length of 126 kilometers, 11 kilometers and 28 kilometers, it was 144 millions, 45 millions and 50 millions respectively. Kyoto registered as the smallest in commuters number and route among the other countries.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by presenting the main features and making relevant comparisons across all six cities. The overview paragraph accurately identifies key trends, such as Tokyo's high passenger volume and London's status as the oldest and longest system. However, there is a minor misinterpretation in the second body paragraph where the writer states 'the length of routes reduced drastically over time', which is inaccurate regarding chronological development; instead, newer systems generally tended to have shorter routes. Additionally, calling cities 'countries' in the phrase 'other countries recorded much lower figures' is a slight data reporting inaccuracy. Despite these minor lapses, the main features of the table are adequately selected and reported.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged logically with an introduction, an overview, and detailed body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'Moreover', and 'Meanwhile'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like 'Building on 1863' instead of 'Beginning in 1863' or 'Opening in 1863'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the specific data points, maintaining a clear overall structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing terms like 'delineates', 'commence', and 'infrastructure'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text, such as 'passengers commute every year' instead of 'annual passenger numbers', 'commuters of Tokyo used' instead of 'Tokyo's underground system carried', and 'other countries' when referring to cities. Furthermore, grammatical forms of words are sometimes confused, as seen with 'passengers number' instead of 'passenger numbers'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases. However, there is a high frequency of grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'the table delineates the data about', 'London exhibited as the longest route', and 'when the Paris constructed their systems'. Additionally, run-on sentences and punctuation slips occur, for instance: 'with the route route length of 126 kilometers, 11 kilometers and 28 kilometers, it was 144 millions, 45 millions and 50 millions respectively.' These errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the grammar score from reaching a higher band.

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