Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17
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 provides the information about underground railway sysytems across six different cities.Units are measured in millions.
Overall, Tokyo holds the largest transportation source for the passengers,although not having the largest route in terms of kilometers.Despite this, Kyoto city is the lowest in terms of both route as well as the travelled passengers.
The underground railway system in London opened in 1863 with 394 kilometers range and has 775 million passengers per year compared with Paris which opened in 1900 with a range of 199 kilometers.However the passengers travelled is 1191 million in Paris.In addition the largest passengers accomodates for the city Tokyo with 1927 million, consist of 155 kilometers range which was opened in year 1927.
The other three cities accounts for lowest passengers travelled with 144,45 and 50 million in Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles constructed in 1976,1981 and 2001 with a range of 126,11 and 28 kilometers respectively.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student successfully highlights the main features of the table, covering all six cities with relevant data points such as the date opened, route kilometers, and passenger numbers. An overview is provided, noting that Tokyo has the highest passenger volume despite not having the longest route, while Kyoto records the lowest figures across categories. Comparisons are made between cities like London, Paris, and Tokyo. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reporting data, such as stating Tokyo has the largest transportation source for passengers while misinterpreting the numbers slightly or phrasing the overview awkwardly ('Tokyo holds the largest transportation source'). Overall, all parts of the task are appropriately addressed, earning a solid Band 6.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into four paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and overview, followed by body details. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'Despite this', 'However', and 'In addition'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, as seen in awkward transitions like 'The other three cities accounts for lowest passengers travelled with 144,45 and 50 million in Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles constructed in...'. Paragraphing is present and logical, separating the general overview from specific city details, but the flow between sentences within the body paragraphs can feel slightly crammed with data points. This positions the response comfortably at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully utilizing terms related to transportation such as 'underground railway systems', 'route', 'passengers', and 'kilometers'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary ('transportation source', 'accomodates'), but these are occasionally imprecise or misused. There is also a spelling mistake in the opening sentence ('sysytems') and a typo ('accomodates' instead of 'accommodates'). Word choice errors do not impede overall communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'which was opened in year 1927', 'constructed in 1976'). However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings throughout the text, such as 'The table provides the information' (unnecessary article), 'the largest passengers accomodates for the city Tokyo', and 'The other three cities accounts for' (subject-verb agreement error). Punctuation errors also occur, such as missing spaces after commas in lists ('144,45 and 50'). Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear, leading to a band score of 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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