Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

WE CAN SEE FROM THE INFORMATIONS WE VE GOT THAT THAT THE LONDON UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS ARE THE OLDEST OF THE BUNCH AND BY FAR THE LONGEST BUT TAKES FEWER PASSENGERS THAN THE PARIS AND TOKYO ONE.

HOWEVER DESPITE THE LOS ANGLES RAILWAY BEING THE NEWEST IT IS NOT AS POPULAR AS THE LONDON NOR THE PARIS ONES.

ALTHOUGHT THE KYOTO AND THE TOKYO UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS ARE LOCATED IN THE SAME COUNTRY ONE OF THE THEM IS CLEARLY MORE POPULAR THAN THE OTHER WHICH BEING THE TOKYO UNDERGROUND RAILWAY.

THE PARIS UNDERGROUND RAILWAY IS QUITE TRUSTED BY PASSENGERS.TRAVELLING IN A 1900 MADE RAILWAY.

THE WASHINGTON DC RAILWAY SEEMS THE MOST AVVERAGE OF THE BUNCH.THE PARIS AND TOKYO UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS ARE THE MOST COMMON ONE ACCORDING TO THOSE INFORMATIONS.

THE KYOTO UNDERGROUND RAILWAY IS THE LEAST POPULAR BETWEEN THEM.AND ALSO BEING THE SHORTEST RAILWAY BY FAR.

LONDONS UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS IS THE BEST ONE

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to cover the main features of the table, noting that London is the oldest and longest system, while comparing passenger numbers and opening dates for cities like Paris, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Los Angeles. However, the summary lacks a clear overview and fails to provide precise data reporting, relying instead on vague generalisations like "the most avverage of the bunch" and subjective declarations such as "LONDONS UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS IS THE BEST ONE." Furthermore, the analysis misses key comparative insights from the dataset, resulting in a somewhat fragmented approach. Because the ideas are underdeveloped and the presentation leans heavily on casual opinion rather than formal reporting, this performance aligns with a Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text suffers significantly from a lack of paragraphing, being written entirely as a single block of text (excluding the title-like opening line, though capitalization issues mask normal structure). The logical progression is weak, moving abruptly between cities without a structured overview or thematic grouping. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, such as the over-use of connector phrases like "HOWEVER DESPITE" and "ALTHOUGHT" (misspelled), making the transitions mechanical and difficult to follow. Reference words are occasionally unclear, particularly with pluralisation mismatches. These organizational shortcomings limit the overall coherence of the response, placing it firmly at a Band 4.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The lexical range is very limited and basic, featuring frequent errors in word choice and spelling, such as "INFORMATIONS" (an uncountable noun treated as plural), "AVVERAGE," and "ANGLES" instead of Angeles. The vocabulary deployed is repetitive, relying on terms like "popular," "railway," and "bunch" rather than appropriate academic equivalents such as "passengers," "network," or "subway systems." Additionally, the use of all-caps throughout the text detracts from proper lexical presentation. While communication is occasionally achieved, the persistent errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score to a Band 4.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical range is extremely limited, characterized by an over-reliance on simple structures and frequent errors in complex attempts. The text contains major punctuation and capitalization issues, including missing full stops and the entire response being written in uppercase letters. Examples of grammatical errors include subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., "the LONDON UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS... TAKES") and fragmented structures like "TRAVELLING IN A 1900 MADE RAILWAY." and "AND ALSO BEING THE SHORTEST RAILWAY BY FAR.". Because errors are frequent and regularly disrupt readability, the grammar and accuracy fall into the Band 4 descriptor category.

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