Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-14

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 illustrates information about the underground railways systems built in six different cities.

Overall, the first ever railway system was constructed in London. However, the railway system of tokyo had the largest capacity of passengers. In addition, the railway system of Paris also had a vast storage for passengers, followed by Washington DC, where the capacity was about 5 times less than that in London. The railway systems of Kyoto and Los Angeles had less storage comparitively.

In 1863, the first railway system was opened in London, which was 394 kilometers long having a capacity of 775 million travellers per year. In contrast, the railway system of Paris had storage for 1191 million travellers, although it was opened in 1900. Tokyo's railway system was acounted with the most passengers per year, the figure was 1927 million passengers, which was 155 kilometeres long.

Furthermore, the railway system in Washington DC was opened in 1976, which has the storage for just about 144 million passengers, neverthless it was 126 kilometeres long. Ultimately, the underground stations in Kyoto and Los Angeles were opened in 1976 and 2001, respectively. Both cities had the capacities of 45 million and 50 million travellers, followed by the route of 11kilometres and 28 kilometres long.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the underground railway systems in the six cities. An overview is provided in the second paragraph, highlighting key extremes such as London being the oldest and Tokyo having the highest passenger volume. Data points are appropriately selected and compared, for example noting that Washington DC's capacity was 'about 5 times less than that in London.' While there are minor inaccuracies in naming certain cities or facts (such as mentioning Kyoto's opening date incorrectly as 1976 instead of 1981), the main features and comparisons are generally accurate and well-reported, meeting the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0. Given the clear comparisons and overview, a score of 6.5 is well-justified.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing dates, lengths, and passenger numbers. Cohesive devices are used adequately, such as 'Overall,' 'However,' 'In addition,' 'In contrast,' and 'Furthermore.' However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally clumsy or mechanical, and the paragraphing could be structured more cleanly by grouping related cities together rather than splitting descriptions across multiple paragraphs. Additionally, the misuse of words like 'storage' instead of 'capacity' slightly affects readability. Overall, the organization is coherent and meets the criteria for Band 6.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to transportation and statistics, such as 'constructed,' 'capacity,' 'travellers,' and 'route.' However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and inappropriate collocations throughout the text. For example, using 'storage' to mean passenger capacity is unnatural, and words like 'acounted' (spelling error for 'accounted') and 'comparitively' detract from precision. Less common lexical items are attempted but lack complete control. These errors do not impede communication, placing the response solidly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses ('which was 394 kilometers long') and contrastive structures ('although it was opened in 1900'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, such as capitalization issues ('tokyo'), spelling mistakes ('acounted', 'neverthless', 'kilometeres'), and occasional awkward phrasing like 'followed by the route of 11kilometres and 28 kilometres long.' Despite these errors, the complex structures are generally understandable, and meaning is rarely impeded. This performance aligns with the Band 6.0 descriptors for grammatical range and accuracy.

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

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