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 tabel chart illutrates the information about the underground railway systems in six cities these are London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles.

Overall, London has the oldest and longest underground railway system, while Los Angeles has the newest one. Tokyo has the highest number of passangers, whereas kyoto has the smallest route and the fewest passangers.

London underground sytem was opened in 1863, making it the oldest among the other cites. It has a route of 394 kilometers and carries 775 million passengers per year. London is considerably longer route than paris, the second longest system at 199 kilometers. Paris carries 1191 million passengers anually.

Tokyo was opened in 1927 with 155 kiolmeters of route and carries the highest number of passengers per year, its almost 1927. In comparison, Washington D, which opened in 1976, has a route of 126 kilometers and carries only 144 million passengers anually.

The two newest systems are Kyoto and Los Angeles. Kyoto was opened in 1981 and has the shortesr route, at just 11 kilometers, with 45 million passengers each year. Finally, Los Angles opened in 2001, making it the newest system. Its route is 28 kilometers long and serves 50 million passengers anually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the underground railway systems across six cities and making relevant comparisons. The overview captures key highlights, noting London as the oldest and longest system, Los Angeles as the newest, Tokyo as having the highest passenger volume, and Kyoto as having the smallest route and fewest passengers. The body paragraphs accurately report the specific data points provided in the table, such as opening dates, route lengths, and annual passenger numbers. Key comparisons are well integrated, for instance contrasting London with Paris and Tokyo with Washington DC. Although there are a few minor typos in proper nouns and data reporting, the overall information is clear and effectively summarised, meeting the criteria for a solid band 7.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response demonstrates clear logical organisation and progression throughout. It opens with an appropriate introductory sentence, followed by a strong overview paragraph that summarises the main trends. The subsequent body paragraphs are logically grouped by city characteristics, progressing from older, larger systems to newer and smaller ones. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'while', 'whereas', 'In comparison', and 'Finally' are used effectively to guide the reader through the comparisons. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each new category or set of cities receiving its own distinct paragraph. While referencing is generally clear, occasional mechanical linking prevents the text from reaching higher bands, placing this submission comfortably at band 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for this Task 1 response, incorporating terms such as 'underground railway systems', 'route', 'passengers per year', and 'anually'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary and comparative structures, but lexical control is somewhat inconsistent with several spelling errors ('tabel', 'illutrates', 'passangers', 'kyoto', 'cites', 'kiolmeters', 'anually', 'shortesr', 'Angles'). Word choice is generally appropriate for conveying numerical data and trends, but the presence of frequent spelling slips prevents the score from reaching a higher band. Nevertheless, communication is never impeded, as the intended meanings remain clear throughout the text, justifying a band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilising relative clauses, comparative structures, and compound sentences. Examples include 'London is considerably longer route than paris' and 'Tokyo was opened in 1927 with 155 kiolmeters of route and carries the highest number of passengers per year, its almost 1927.' There are several noticeable grammatical errors and punctuation slips, such as missing articles ('longer route'), incorrect prepositions or comparative phrasing, comma splices, and a failure to capitalise proper nouns consistently (e.g., 'paris', 'kyoto', 'Angles'). Despite these errors, the complex structures attempted show an adequate grammatical range, and meaning is rarely obscured, aligning well with the descriptors for a band 6.0.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.