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 illustrated table depicts the information about underground railway system in six different cities. Respectively, which are London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, kyoto and Los Angeles.

The shown information of railway includes opening date, Kilometres of route and the number of passengers who travelled. London railway which was opened in 1863, covered 394 kilometres route in which 775 million people travelled per year. Paris railway was opened in 1900, which covered 199 kilometres route along with 1191 million people per year. Tokyo railway was opened in 1927, covered 155 kilometres route with 1927 million travellers per year. Moreover, Washington DC railway was opened in 1976 completed 126 kilometres route with 144 million people per year. Kyoto railway started in 1981 and completed 11 kilometres route carrying 45 million people every year. Los Angeles railway opened in 2001 covered 28 kilometres with 50 million passengers per year.

In comparison, London railway completed the highest route among all the other cities, however Tyoko transported the highest number of passengers per year, while Kyoto became the lowest course which covered less routes and transported less passengers as compared to other cities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all the key features of the provided table, including dates of opening, route lengths, and passenger numbers for all six cities. The student successfully highlights the main comparisons, noting that London has the longest route, Tokyo has the highest number of passengers, and Kyoto has the lowest figures across categories. However, the report relies heavily on listing the data city by city in a repetitive mechanical sequence, which limits the depth of overview and integration of data. An overarching summary or clearer grouping of data points would elevate the task response. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed adequately, meriting a solid band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has an introduction, a body paragraph listing the details, and a brief concluding comparison. However, the overall organisation is heavily dependent on a repetitive listing structure in the body paragraph, where every single city is introduced with a nearly identical phrasing ('... railway was opened in ..., which covered ...'). Cohesive devices are used minimally and somewhat repetitively, such as 'Moreover' and 'However'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the middle paragraph is excessively long and dense, grouping all data together instead of logically chunking information (e.g., separating older systems from newer ones). Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of varied cohesive links leads to a disjointed flow, placing this section firmly at band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to transport such as 'underground railway system', 'route', 'passengers', and 'travellers'. There are attempts at less common phrasing, but these are sometimes awkwardly applied, such as 'lowest course' instead of 'smallest scale' or 'lowest figures'. Word choice and collocations show some inaccuracies, such as 'completed 126 kilometres route' rather than 'spanning a 126-kilometre route'. Furthermore, there are basic spelling and capitalisation errors, such as 'kyoto' and 'Tyoko'. While communication is not impeded, the limited range and lexical slips prevent a higher score, aligning with band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses such as 'which was opened in 1863' and 'who travelled'. However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are several sentence structure issues, particularly in the opening lines where fragments and punctuation errors occur ('Respectively, which are London...'). Punctuation around clauses is occasionally faulty, and prepositions are sometimes misused ('covered 394 kilometres route in which 775 million people travelled'). Although the meaning remains understandable, frequent minor grammatical slips and a lack of fully error-free complex sentences mean the performance sits at band 5.5.

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

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