Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-16
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 table illustrates the information about the underground railway systems in six cities.over the period of time period from 1863 to 2001.
Overall, Tokyo is the leading in number of passengers per year with 1927 millions in year 1927and Kyoto is the least passengers per year with only 45 in year 1981.
London was openned in 1863 with 394 kilometers of route with 775 passengers per year and paris is launched in 1900 for 199 kilometers with 1191 million of passengers per year.After tokyo the numbers of passengers per year started towards down-ward in terms of passengers per year in million .
The two newest systems are in Kyoto and Los Angeles. Kyoto’s railway opened in 1981 and has the shortest route, at only 11 kilometres, serving 45 million passengers per year. Los Angeles, opened in 2001, has a 28-kilometre route and carries slightly more passengers, at 50 million annually.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student attempts to cover the main features of the table, successfully identifying extremes such as Tokyo having the highest number of passengers (1927 million) and Kyoto the lowest. Key data points like dates, route lengths, and passenger numbers are included. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and awkward interpretations, such as stating 'Tokyo is the leading in number of passengers per year with 1927 millions in year 1927' (where the city name is confused with the year of opening for Tokyo, which is actually 1927). The overview is rather basic and lacks deeper comparative synthesis. These flaws place the response at Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview and body details. However, logical progression is disrupted by mechanical and faulty cohesion, as seen in sentences like 'After tokyo the numbers of passengers per year started towards down-ward in terms of passengers per year in million.' Paragraphing is somewhat superficial, and referencing is occasionally unclear. Cohesive devices are either repetitive or awkwardly applied, resulting in a somewhat disjointed reading experience. This aligns with a Band 5.5 score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary to discuss dates, distances, and quantities, using terms such as 'illustrates', 'route', and 'passengers'. However, there are noticeable word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'openned' instead of 'opened', 'paris is launched' instead of 'opened', and 'leading in number'. Repetition of phrases like 'passengers per year' also limits the lexical range. While meaning is generally communicated, the persistent errors and limited flexibility restrict the score to Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar and punctuation is weak. There are frequent punctuation and capitalization errors, such as missing spaces after periods (e.g., '1863.over', '1927and', 'per year .After'), and grammatical errors such as missing verbs or awkward phrasing ('London was openned in 1863 with 394 kilometers of route with 775 passengers'). Complex structures often contain errors that cause some difficulty for the reader. This performance fits the Band 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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