Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)
The table provides information regarding the underground railway systems in six cities.
Overall, it is evident that London underground railway is the oldest and it quite longest, while Los Angeles is the latest and Kyoto is the smallest route. Meanwhile, most of the passengers use Tokyo underground railway.
According to opened date, London was the oldest underground railway system, it opened in 1863, while Los Angeles opened date in 2001. The figure for Paris, Tokyo, Washing ton DC, and Kyoto opened in 1900, 1927, 1976, and 1981, respectively.
Turning to route's kilometers, London is the longest route of 394 km, whereas Paris is the second rank at 199 km. The figure for Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles fell in the range of 155 to 11 km.
Regarding the passengers per year, numerous passengers prefer to use Tokyo underground railway at 1927 million per year. Meanwhile, Kyoto railway used at 45 million of people. Paris, London, Washington DC, and Los Angeles underground railway used at 1191 million, 77 5million, 144 million, and 50 million of passengers, respectively.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully covers all three key features of the table: dates opened, route lengths, and passenger numbers, making appropriate comparisons across the six cities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting the oldest/longest (London), latest/smallest (Los Angeles/Kyoto), and highest passenger volume (Tokyo). While the overview contains slight awkwardness in phrasing ('it quite longest' and 'Kyoto is the smallest route' instead of referring to route length), the main trends are clearly reported. Data points are accurately cited to support the descriptions, fulfilling the requirements for Academic Task 1 effectively.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then dedicating specific paragraphs to dates, route lengths, and passengers. Cohesive devices and transition markers are used to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'According to opened date', 'Turning to route's kilometers', and 'Regarding the passengers per year'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally clumsy, such as 'The figure for Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto, and Los Angeles fell in the range of 155 to 11 km', which attempts to group disparate data awkwardly. Paragraphing is used appropriately, maintaining a clear overall progression.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully discussing dates, distances, and passenger statistics. There are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'it quite longest' instead of 'the longest', 'opened date' instead of 'opening date', and 'Washing ton' (spacing error). Phrases like 'Kyoto railway used at 45 million of people' reflect poor collocation and grammar rather than precise vocabulary control. Nonetheless, the language remains comprehensible throughout, supporting the communication of the data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writing includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as introductory dependent clauses ('According to opened date, London was the oldest...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, including 'London underground railway is... it quite longest', 'Los Angeles opened date in 2001', and 'Kyoto, and Los Angeles underground railway used at...' which lack passive construction or proper verbs. Punctuation and spacing errors also appear, such as '77 5million'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher grammatical band score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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