Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-13

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 gives the data on the underground railway system across six major cities namely, London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, the oldest railway construction was of London, while also being the longest. In contrast, Kyoto's system has the smallest route. And, Tokyo's underground railway system carry the most passengers.

In 1863, London opened its own underground railway system of 394 kilometers in length with its passengers of 775 million per year. Paris also introduced its own underground railway network in the year 1900 of around half the length at 199 km; however, it is responsible for about 50% more passenger transportation than the London's system , i.e. 1191 million per year. In Tokyo, the accounted trips nearly doubled again compared to the Paris, to 1927 million customers per year, with its 155 km route built in 1927.

The next three cities underground railroad system are considerably less popular among their people in comparison to others. Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles have numbers of 144 million, 45 million, and 50 million passengers respectively. Additionally, all three opened in close time frame- Washington DC in 1976, Kyoto in 1981 and Los Angeles in 2001. Kyoto's network is the smallest in length at 11 km, Los Angeles has slightly longer route at 28 km, while Washington DC has the 126 km of railroad.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the table and selecting and reporting the main features with relevant comparisons. For instance, the overview correctly highlights London as the oldest and longest system, while Tokyo carries the most passengers. Key data points such as dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers are accurately cited and contrasted, such as comparing Paris's length and passenger volume to London's. The information is well-selected, avoiding unnecessary listing of every single detail while ensuring the most striking features are highlighted. This satisfies the requirements for a Band 7.0 performance in Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory statement, moves into a well-crafted overview paragraph, and then groups the detailed data logically into subsequent paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as "In contrast", "however", and "Additionally". However, there are minor cohesion and referencing flaws, such as starting a sentence with "And, Tokyo's..." which is slightly conversational, and a slight awkwardness in phrasing like "The next three cities underground railroad system". Paragraphing is handled sufficiently and appropriately to separate the major groupings of data, earning a solid Band 6.5 to 7.0 score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to sufficient range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, employing terms such as "railway construction", "network", "passenger transportation", and "popular". There are some minor lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as "the accounted trips nearly doubled again" and "with its passengers of 775 million" (rather than "accommodating 775 million passengers"). Spelling is accurate, and while less common vocabulary is attempted with some minor collocation errors, the meaning is never obscured. This performance aligns well with the Band 6.5 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms effectively, incorporating subordinate clauses and comparative structures (e.g., "Paris also introduced its own underground railway network... around half the length at 199 km; however, it is responsible for about 50% more passenger transportation than the London's system"). There are some grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ("Tokyo's underground railway system carry") and an unnecessary article ("than the London's system"). Punctuation and sentence structures are generally controlled well enough that these errors rarely impede communication, placing this firmly in the Band 6.5 range.

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

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